Our Island
by ChocolatteKitty-Kat
Summary: Set after season 3. The remnants of the 2nd Mass find a group of kids with spikes in the woods and take them in. They continue their offensive against the skitters/Espheni. T for violence (come on, they're fighting aliens from outer space! There's going to be violence!) and some mild language. Some Ben/OC, Jimmy/Deni, and Hal/Maggie... Will be AU once season 4 starts, obviously...
1. Chapter 1

**OKAY! So, this kind of just jumps right in, I know. If you have questions, hang on until the end, cos they're most likely answered... I know this chapter is long (3500 words...) but not all of them will be so long, so hang in there? I'd love it if you reviewed, but if you don't, that's cool too...**

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'Jimmy!' a child's voice rang out. It was eight-year-old Colm. The cry would have been inaudible to a normal human's ears, but the twelve spikes running down Jimmy's back enhanced his senses far beyond the normal range.

'Colm, where are you?' Jimmy called. 'Are Harlem and Abby with you?'

'Harlem got hit in the head and didn't wake up yet,' Colm responded. 'Abby can't hear you.'

'Summer, Mariah, and Amanda are with me,' Jimmy yelled. 'We want to meet up with you guys. Start coming towards my voice and I'll come towards yours.'

'I can't tell where you're talking from!' Colm called after a short pause.

'That's okay!' Jimmy called. 'Just keep calling to me and I'll come for you.'

'Okay!' Colm shouted.

Jimmy prompted the girls to their feet and started making his way towards Colm's voice. 'Colm! Keep talking!'

'Abby says that once she can hear you, we'll start walking towards you,' Colm called.

'That's good,' Jimmy yelled, clambering over another fallen trunk before turning to help the girls. They were all young; Summer was eleven, Mariah was nine, and Amanda was ten. They were small, so the trek through the forest was difficult for them, despite their strength and stamina gained from the spikes in each of their backs.

'She can't hear you yet!' Colm called. 'She says to hurry, she doesn't want the skitters to find us while Harlem's still un-science.'

'What's wrong with Harlem?' Jimmy asked.

'He got hit on the head,' Colm replied. 'Abby says he's un-con-science.'

'Oh,' Jimmy smiled to himself, realizing what Colm meant. 'Ask Abby how he looks.'

There was a long pause before Colm replied. 'She says he has a goose egg that's turning purple, but he isn't bleeding.'

'Great,' Jimmy called back. 'That's really good.'

'Abby says she thinks he's waking up!' Colm shouted, excitement in his voice.

'Fantastic!' Jimmy shouted, helping the small girls over another obstacle. He was about to turn around from lifting Summer over a rock when the cold muzzle of a rifle pressed into his back. Jimmy slowly raised his hands.

'Turn around,' a familiar voice growled.

'Pope?' Jimmy asked, incredulous, as he turned.

Pope's face went white when he recognized Jimmy. 'No way.'

'What?' Jimmy asked.

'You're dead,' Pope gaped. 'I went to your funeral.'

'W-what?' Jimmy stammered, dumbfounded.

'You died,' Pope growled. 'A skitter threw you into a tree and you were impaled on a branch. Dr. Glass couldn't save you and you _died_.'

Jimmy felt the blood drain from his face. 'That's impossible.'

'Kid, we buried you,' Pope was shaking. 'You were dead.'

'N-no,' Jimmy gasped. His hand rested on the lower part of his abdomen. 'That can't be right.'

'It's right,' Pope cocked his gun.

'Jimmy,' Amanda whimpered. The three girls had clustered behind their "brother" and were peering around his sides at Pope.

'What do you want with me, Pope?' Jimmy asked, reaching back to soothe the girls. He had lost his weapons fighting the skitters, as had the girls. They were defenseless against the ex-con; he had a gun against their strength and speed. At least one of them would die before they could reach Pope, and Jimmy wasn't willing to risk that.

'I want you all to come with me,' Pope growled. 'Colonel Weaver will be interested to see you.'

'Sure,' Jimmy nodded. 'No problem. You don't need the gun for that.'

'Insurance,' Pope grumbled. 'I saw your spikes. Don't want you jumping me. Try to attack me, and one of you gets it.'

'Try again,' a voice came from behind Pope. 'Turn around real slow and take a look at what you're up against.'

Pope turned. When he saw Samson behind him, he gaped and dropped his gun on the ground. 'What the hell.'

Samson grinned and cracked his knuckles, raising his fist to punch Pope.

'No!' Jimmy protested. 'Stop. I want him to take me back with him.'

'Back where?' Abby asked, appearing beside Samson. Colm stood next to her. Dallon, supporting Harlem, appeared on Samson's other side.

'Are you still with the 2nd Mass?' Jimmy demanded.

'Yeah,' Pope grumbled, not daring to lie with Samson staring him down.

'I want him to take me to them,' Jimmy asserted, straightening where he stood.

'Seriously?' Samson growled. 'Humans? You want to go to _humans_!?'

'Yeah,' Jimmy frowned.

'You think they'll take you back with those spikes running down your back?' Samson scoffed. 'They'll turn you out on your ear. Better just stick with your pack.'

'The 2nd Mass is different,' Jimmy protested. 'They rescue kids and deharness them. Or at least they used to. Pope, is Ben still there?'

'Yeah,' Pope grumbled.

'That's how they're different,' Jimmy asserted. 'Ben was one of the first kids they deharnessed. He still has his spikes. He was my best friend there.'

'They have a spike-back there?' Samson scoffed. 'Humans hate you guys. They don't trust you.'

'Samson, quit it,' Abby snapped. 'I think it sounds good. If they'll take us, why can't we go with them? They probably have a doctor who can help Harlem. Just for a little.'

'Go ahead,' Samson sneered. 'I'm not coming with you, though. Go on yourself. Good luck keeping this one under control.'

'I have my gun,' Abby shrugged. 'I think I'm the only one who still does. I can keep him under control.'

'Fine,' Samson growled. 'Do what you want. I'll see ya.' Without further ado, he vanished into the trees.

Abby raised her gun and pointed it towards Pope. 'Jimmy, grab his gun. You, start walking.'

With a gulp, Pope stumbled towards the main road through the forest. Abby followed directly behind, pressing her gun into his back. Jimmy jogged to catch up as the younger children fell in behind Abby, Dallon and Harlem bringing up the rear.

The group trekked through the forest until they reached the main road. Abby was soaked with sweat, her damaged spikes not lending her the stamina of the other spiked kids. When they reached the shoulder, Jimmy turned to face Abby. 'You guys stay here. They're only a few feet that way, but I'll go in first. I know them; they'll trust me more than a whole bunch of us together.'

'Okay,' Abby nodded, panting. 'Do you want him?'

'Sure,' said Jimmy. He beckoned for Pope to follow him and the two stepped onto the road. They made their way towards the camp, the others walking beside them in the woods, almost completely silent.

'Who's there!?' a voice cried from the camp perimeter.

'Answer,' Jimmy whispered, poking Pope with the gun he'd picked up earlier.

'It's me,' Pope shouted reluctantly. 'And… friend.'

'Friend?' the sentry called, stepping into the light of the fires flickering inside the camp.

'Yeah,' Pope called. 'Get Mason and Weaver.'

Jimmy and Pope waited outside of the camp while the sentry sent someone for Mason and Weaver. A smaller figure appeared next to the big sentry, staring out towards Jimmy and Pope. Jimmy squinted at the figures; he didn't recognize the big one immediately, but the smaller form was familiar. 'Ben?'

'Jimmy?' Ben called back, shock evident in his voice. 'Is that you?'

'Yeah, it's me,' Jimmy replied. Ben started to move out towards Jimmy and Pope, but a new figure that arrived to be silhouetted against the firelight grabbed his arm.

'Dad, it's Jimmy,' Jimmy heard Ben protest.

'That's impossible,' a voice that Jimmy recognized as Weaver's put in.

'Clearly not,' Ben grumbled, pulling away from his father.

'What are they waiting for?' Pope complained. 'I can't hear them, but I bet you can.'

'They think it's impossible that I'm here,' Jimmy replied.

'It's Jimmy,' Pope shouted. 'Let us closer and you'll see for yourself.'

'You sure about that, Pope?' Weaver called.

'Yeah,' Pope replied. He glanced at Jimmy. 'He has spikes.'

They saw the silhouettes look at each other. 'Fine,' Weaver called. 'You can come closer.'

As Jimmy and Pope moved closer, the sentry, Weaver, and Tom Mason raised their guns towards them. Jimmy raised Pope's gun in one hand, returned it to Pope, and raised his hands into clear view of the men in the camp. A few other gun-bearers approached, some of them recognizable as Hal Mason, Maggie, and Dr. Glass.

'Jimmy!' Ben grinned. Ignoring his father, he hurried forward to embrace the other boy. 'What happened? I thought you were dead. We kind of buried you.'

A flashlight shone out form the camp, directly into Jimmy's eyes, as Ben stepped back. Jimmy blinked and squinted.

'He's right,' Weaver said, disbelieving. Jimmy and Ben stood about fifteen feet away from the camp, half of a dozen flashlights trained on them. 'It is Jimmy.'

'Yeah, definitely me,' Jimmy said drily.

Dr. Glass pushed her way to the front and approached Ben and Jimmy. 'Oh my god,' she gasped. 'It really is you.'

'Yep,' Jimmy grunted as Dr. Glass pulled him into a tight hug.

'I am so sorry,' Dr. Glass sighed.

'It's okay, ma'am,' Jimmy shook his head.

'Anne,' Tom called from the camp. Dr. Glass turned and walked back.

'It's definitely Jimmy,' he heard her whisper to Tom.

Ben walked around Jimmy. 'Pope said you have spikes,' he said, stopping behind Jimmy.

Jimmy brushed his hair—too long and desperately in need of a cut—away from the back of his neck. 'Yeah,' he said. 'I do.'

A soft sound came from the edge of the forest. Jimmy and Ben turned to look at it, Ben starting to raise his gun. 'No,' Jimmy said, putting his hand on the muzzle of the gun.

'Ben, what is it?' Tom called, noticing the interaction.

'There's something in the woods,' Ben called.

'It's fine,' Jimmy reassured. 'They're with me.'

'Who's with you?' Weaver asked. He and Tom started to move closer.

Summer burst out of the woods, ran to Jimmy, and flung her arms around his waist. 'This is Summer,' he explained, bending down to pick her up. 'There are eight of us.'

'She has spikes,' Ben observed; the fabric of Summer's shirt had been pulled taught across part of her back when Jimmy picked her up and her spikes poked through the fabric.

'Yeah, we all do,' Jimmy said, slightly defensive.

'Why didn't they come with you?' Weaver asked. 'Why hide in the woods?'

'We didn't want to overwhelm you,' Jimmy shrugged. 'Eight spike-backs, all showing up at once? You wouldn't have reacted the same way.'

'Yeah, you're right,' Weaver nodded. 'But I don't like surprises, as you may remember.'

'I was going to explain and then have them come out,' Jimmy explained.

'Well, why don't you have them come out now,' Dr. Glass suggested. She approached again to look at Summer. 'How long have you guys been in the woods? This one looks hungry, too. I'm sure you all are.'

Jimmy nodded. 'I'm not sure how long we've been around here. A few weeks at least. Samson had us come here when we heard that the Espheni tower in Boston was destroyed. He said it was a weak point.'

'Wait, you know Samson?' Ben asked, glancing at his father and Weaver. 'You're working with the skitter rebellion?'

Jimmy nodded. 'All of us work with the rebel skitters. Samson tells us what to do.'

Ben rolled his eyes. 'Yeah. He thinks he's so cool.' Jimmy smirked in response. 'Wait,' Ben said, glancing at the point in the foliage that Summer had emerged from. 'He's not in there too, is he?'

Jimmy laughed. 'No. He left when we decided that we were going to come here.'

'Oh, good,' Ben sighed. 'He would not be good to have around here.'

'Well, I don't know how far he went,' Jimmy started.

'Point taken,' Ben grinned. 'I'll shut up.'

'Who is this guy?' Tom asked, clearly suspicious.

'Samson?' Ben said. 'He was harnessed for so long he started to turn skitter. But the rebel skitters found him and cut off his harness before he could completely change. Now, he works with them, coordinating with those of us with spikes who don't work quite as closely with the skitters themselves.'

'Look, Jimmy, call your friends out and we'll talk,' Weaver sighed. 'I don't like the thought of a bunch of kids wandering around skitter territory, even if they are spiked.'

'Guys, come on out,' Jimmy called, turning to face the forest. Mariah and Amanda were the first out. They scurried over to Jimmy as he put Summer down. Dallon, still supporting Harlem, came next. Abby followed last, still out of breath from the hike, and holding Colm's hand.

The 2nd Mass surveyed the children. Summer was small and bony, with knobby elbows and knees and long fingers. She had short blonde hair, and wore a long, once-pink long-sleeved shirt and jeans with sneakers. Mariah and Amanda looked similar, both with long stringy brown hair and big brown eyes, but Mariah was several inches shorter than Amanda, and both were very thin. Mariah wore a too-big green sweatshirt with ragged jeans and snowboots, while Amanda wore a long sleeved grey shirt under a holey brown t-shirt, jeans with holes over the knees, and brown sneakers. Dallon wore oversized sweatpants, tied tight to his legs with mismatched strips of cloth, and tucked into muddy workboots, along with a long-sleeved t-shirt and doubled up hoodies. Harlem was dressed similarly to Dallon, but with jeans instead of sweatpants. Colm wore jeans, layered t-shirts, a thick hoodie, and sneakers. Abby, unlike her companions, wore leggings, short denim cut-offs, and a tank top with beat-up fake Ugg boots. She had a hoodie and jacket tied around her waist, and her skin was still beaded with sweat.

As Abby, and Colm approached, Jimmy heard Ben gasp. Before anyone could react, Abby screamed out in pain, collapsing to the ground and clapping a hand over the spikes on the back of her neck. 'Abby!' Colm cried. Jimmy glanced at Ben, noting that his spikes had lit up a vibrant blue and he was stiff.

'Abby,' Colm repeated, reaching out to touch the girl curled up on the ground.

'What's going on?' Dr. Glass demanded, stepping towards Abby. Jimmy glanced at Ben again, realizing that no-one had noticed his glowing spikes.

'Back off,' Dallon growled, stepping in front of Dr. Glass as she approached Abby.

'It's her spikes,' Jimmy explained. 'They were damaged when her harness was removed, so when she connects with someone, it causes her a lot of pain.'

'Who did she connect with?' Tom demanded.

Jimmy looked at Ben again. 'Ben. And he's frozen up because he can feel her pain. They'll break off eventually and both of them will be fine.'

'Are you sure?' Dr. Glass peered at Abby around Dallon, concerned.

'Yeah, it's happened before,' Jimmy nodded.

'Often?' Dr. Glass asked.

'I don't know,' Jimmy shrugged. 'Kind of. Any time she connects with someone. With each of us, the first time we met, with Samson, whenever he shows up, and any time she connects with a skitter. So yeah, I guess pretty often.'

With a gasp, Ben sagged next to Jimmy. Jimmy reached over to support him, pulling one of Ben's arms over his shoulders. 'Ben?' Tom called out, concerned.

'I'm fine,' Ben replied. 'We're not connected anymore.'

'You're not connected to her,' Jimmy corrected. 'She takes longer to disconnect because of the damage to her spikes, so she's still in pain.'

'We should take this back into the camp,' Maggie suggested from the camp perimeter. 'You never know when skitters could show up.'

'She's right,' Tom looked at Weaver.

Weaver sighed. 'Fine. Come on in. Anne, you help the girl if she needs it.'

Dr. Glass nodded and stepped towards Abby. Dallon allowed her past this time, and she helped Abby to her feet. Jimmy continued to support Ben into the camp, the three girls walking ahead of them. 'You okay?' Jimmy asked, looking over at Ben.

'Yeah,' Ben nodded. 'Just… weird. I don't know.'

'I know,' Jimmy nodded. 'I remember the first time I met her. You'll be fine.'

'Will she?' Ben asked.

'Yeah,' Jimmy nodded. They reached the center of the camp inside a the circle of vehicles and tents and Jimmy left Ben sitting next to the fire burning in the center, next to Matt and a small, unfamiliar girl. Jimmy and the rest of his pack followed Dr. Glass and Abby to the med-bus.

'You can put him down there,' Dr. Glass pointed towards an empty stretcher bed in the front of the bus. Dallon laid Harlem on the bed while Dr. Glass rested Abby on a sofa in the back of the repurposed RV.

'I'm fine," Abby sighed, brushing off Dr. Glass's attentions. 'Harlem needs your help; I don't.'

'If you're sure,' Dr. Glass sighed, moving away from Abby and towards the front of the bus. 'You guys cannot all be in here; there is not enough room. Go outside. I'll let you know when I'm done with him, and she can come out when she feels better. Shoo.'

'Come on, guys,' Jimmy prompted, stepping outside so the others could get past. 'Dr. Glass needs to work.'

The other kids filed past, Dr. Glass shooing them from behind. 'Jimmy, why don't you take them to the fire circle? Supper should be ready soon, and you can talk to Colonel Weaver and Tom.'

Jimmy nodded and followed his pack to the circle. He found Tom and Weaver with Ben, Tom standing next to the boy with his hand on his shoulder and Weaver to the other side. 'Jimmy, we need to talk,' Weaver said, catching sight of Jimmy and the pack. 'Bring your friends.'

The pack, minus Abby and Harlem, followed Weaver, Tom, and Ben to one of the larger tents circled around the fire and filed in.

'First things first,' Weaver glared at the kids. He and Tom stood next to each other behind a table covered with maps. Jimmy stood opposite them, Dallon next to him and the younger children behind them. Ben stood near the entrance of the tent, still looking shaken from his connection with Abby. 'Who are you guys?'

'Well, I'm Jimmy Boland, although you knew that,' Jimmy sighed. 'This is Dallon, and that's Summer, Amanda, Colm, and Mariah. Abby is the older girl and Harlem is the boy in the med-bus with the head wound.'

'What are you doing here?' Weaver asked, leaning on the desk.

'We've been tracking a pack of skitters through the area,' Dallon replied to this question. 'Samson led us into their camp while they were supposed to be asleep, but they weren't. We tried to fight our way out—I guess that's when Harlem got his head injury. We had to split up. I was with Samson. We were in the woods, and we came across Abby, Colm, and Harlem. We heard Jimmy and the girls with that guy, so Samson led us to them. Then he brought us here.'

'Okay,' Weaver nodded. 'Fair enough. Now the big question is what happened back there on the road, with Ben and—what was her name, Abby?'

'Yeah, Abby,' Jimmy nodded. 'When her harness was removed, some of her spikes ripped out. She almost died, and now only has seven spikes. She doesn't have the same abilities as us; she's weaker, slower, doesn't have heightened senses, but has higher than normal stamina. Also, some of the spikes she still has are broken off. Because of that, whenever she connects to someone through the spikes, it causes her pain.'

'What happened to Ben though?' Tom asked, glancing at his son standing by the door.

'When we connect with someone else with spikes, it's sometimes more than just an exchange of thoughts,' Ben replied, stepping forward. 'Sometimes it's a fuller connection than that. It can be thoughts, emotions, feelings… When Abby and I connected, it was full-strength. I could feel the pain she was feeling. I don't know how to describe it. It wasn't like I was in pain, or like my spikes were in pain, but I knew exactly how she was hurting.'

Jimmy nodded. 'It's terrible. The first time I met Abby, we connected like that. If you ask her what it feels like, she'll say it's like her back is on fire or someone has a knife buried in her spine and was dragging it down her back. When we connected, I knew that she was feeling this, and I knew how it was making her feel, but it didn't feel like my back was burning or whatever.'

Weaver scowled. 'Fine, last question: how the hell are _you_ here?'

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**YAYYY! CHAPTER ONE! BTW, this was uploaded at the behest of BrokenSky49... So yeah.**

**Also, I'm only going to disclaim once: I DO NOT OWN FALLING SKIES OR ANY OF THE FALLING SKIES CHARACTERS! However, I DO own THIS STORY, as well as Abby, Harlem, Dallon, Colm, Mariah, Amanda, and Summer. Don't steal them (without permission) or I will cry.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yes, yes, this one is much shorter. I'm not sure if you'd consider that good or bad... but it is.**

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Abby stepped out of the med-bus and shivered, tugging her jacket tighter around her. It was cold, despite the fire flaming only a few yards away and the remnants of adrenaline continuing to pump through her system. She walked towards the fire and looked around for her pack.

'Hey,' a voice called. It belonged to a tall boy with dark hair seated next to a woman with long blonde waves. 'You looking for those other kids?'

'Yeah,' Abby nodded, moving towards the duo. 'Do you know where they went?'

'Come on, I'll show you,' he said, standing up. He led her across the fire circle to one of the larger tents. 'Captain Weaver?' he called, stopping at the closed entry.

'Yeah?' a gruff voice replied.

The boy opened the tent flap and held it aside for Abby. She nodded at him in thanks and stepped inside. In front of her stood Colonel Weaver and Tom on one side of a table, her pack across from them. She noticed Ben on her left but directed her attention towards Weaver and Tom.

'Sir,' she nodded to Weaver. He gestured to her pack and she moved to stand beside Dallon, careful not to get too close to or touch Ben. Once she was standing safely with her family, she looked at Tom. 'I'm sorry for hurting your son,' she said quickly, before turning to face Ben. 'I'm so sorry.'

'From what we understand, it's not your fault,' Tom replied.

'My spikes, my fault,' she shrugged. 'I may not have damaged them or caused the connection, but I'm still responsible.'

'It's fine,' Ben spoke up from the sideline. 'I'll get over it.'

Abby nodded and turned back to Weaver and Tom.

'We were just asking Jimmy how it is he's alive,' Weaver said. 'You have any ideas? Jimmy and Dallon said you were with the rebel skitters longer than anyone else here.'

'The red-eyed one brought him,' Abby replied, wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to warm up. 'It was… almost a year after everything started. He was barely breathing and had a pretty fresh wound in his stomach. I asked what was going on and they told me that the red-eyed one had injured Jimmy, but also accidently given him a parasite that made the humans think he was dead, but he didn't say why or how. They didn't want Jimmy to die, and they didn't have a lot of spike-backs at that point… so, they harnessed Jimmy.'

'The red-eyed one harnessed Jimmy!?' Ben interrupted, shocked.

'Not just Jimmy,' Abby frowned. 'They harnessed quite a few kids. Some, they rescued, if they had been abandoned or left for dead. But some they took. The red-eyed one didn't support it; he said it made them too much like the other skitters, but with Jimmy, he felt responsible.'

'I can't believe the skitter rebellion would harness kids,' Tom scowled.

'There's a dark side to the rebellion that you'll never know—that I hope you never see,' Abby looked ready to cry. 'Anyways, the kids they harnessed were kept… sedated, I guess you could say. That's why Jimmy doesn't remember anything. After a few months, they cut off the harness, woke him up, and he packed up with us—me, Colm, Amanda, Dallon, and Harlem—after that.'

Jimmy stared at Abby, open-mouthed. 'You never told me any of that!'

'The red-eyed one told me not to,' she shrugged. 'I assumed that he did and you didn't want to talk about it. No-one wants to talk about how they got harnessed.'

Jimmy sighed and looked at Weaver and Tom. 'Any other questions?'

'Dinner!' the cry sounded from outside.

'Abby, I'm hungry,' Colm stage whispered, tugging on the back of Abby's jacket.

'Shush,' Abby scolded, turning around and shooing him off of her jacket.

'No, he's right,' Tom said. 'You guys look like you're starving. Go ahead.' He turned to Ben. 'Ben, can you take them out for some food?'

'Yeah,' Ben nodded. He led the kids out of the tent and back over to the fire, where they lined up to get food. At the end of the line, Ben waited for everyone. 'Come on,' he said once Abby, the last of the group, had gone through. He led the seven kids over to where Matt and Alexis were eating. They settled down nearby, and were soon joined by Hal and Maggie.

Upon seeing Jimmy, Maggie grinned hugely and gave him a big, one-armed hug. 'Hey kid,' she grinned, settling down next to it.

'Hi, Maggie,' Jimmy grinned, wrapping his free arm around her shoulders.

'It's nice to see you,' Maggie smiled, releasing Jimmy. 'Who are your friends.'

'This is Mariah, Amanda, Summer, Colm, Abby, and Dallon,' Jimmy pointed to each in turn. 'Guys, this is Maggie. And those are Tom's sons, Hal, Matt, and Ben, who I guess you all haven't met officially yet.'

'And this is Alexis,' Matt grinned.

'She's our half-sister,' Ben added.

'So…' Jimmy looked at the girl. 'I'd guess your dad and Dr. Glass, but she looks too old for that.'

'It's a long story,' Ben shrugged. 'But yeah, Dr. Glass is her mom.'

'I was captured by aliens,' Alexis informed them, staring eerily at them. 'Also, I'm half human and half Espheni. They did something to me before I was born.'

'Wow,' Jimmy nodded slowly. 'That's a crazy story.'

'You're one special kid,' Abby smiled at Alexis.

'No more special than you,' Alexis replied, turning her stare on Abby. The smile and color drained from the older girl's face.

'Well, that was a little weird, but okay,' she said weakly. 'If you say so, sweetie.'

'I do,' Alexis replied.

Abby blinked and shook her head, as if to clear it, and returned to her food. The Mason boys grinned at her reaction.

'How old are you?' Colm asked, looking at Matt.

'I'm eleven,' Matt replied. 'How old are you?'

'I'm eight,' Colm replied proudly.

When she heard this, Maggie nearly choked on her food. 'You're eight!?" she repeated.

'Yeah,' Colm nodded, seeming confused by her reaction. 'Mariah's nine, Amanda's ten, and Summer's eleven. Harlem is fifteen, Jimmy's fifteen, Abby's seventeen, and Dallon's nineteen. Don't you believe me?'

'She's just surprised 'cos you're so young,' Jimmy said.

'So you were, what, six when the skitters came?' Maggie said, her voice hoarse.

'Yeah,' Colm nodded.

'How old were you when you were harnessed?'

'Six. I got harnessed after only a few days.' Colm replied, now plainly confused. 'Why?'

Maggie shook her head. She put down her bowl, stood up, and walked away. Hal sighed and followed her.

'What's wrong?' Colm whimpered, looking up at Abby.

'Nothing's wrong, buddy,' she soothed, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. 'It's hard for anyone to think of someone so young being taken by aliens and forced to be their slave.'

'But I'm fighting them now,' Colm said, looking around at the other kids. 'Doesn't that make it better?'

'No, buddy,' Abby sighed, pulling him into a hug. 'That just makes it worse.'

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**Well... Yeah. Please review? Or not. That's okay too, I guess...**


	3. Chapter 3

**So, basically, I was planning on just uploading one scene per chapter, and then I realized that some of the scenes are super duper short... like 500 words short. So, my target is about 1500 words per chapter. Right now (I spent an hour last night dividing up the 85+ pages I have written into chapters) most of the chapters are about 1700 words. By which I mean about half of them are right around 1200... Because those just seemed like the right places to stop them. Wait, why am I explaining myself to you? I'm the writer!**

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'Harlem!' Mariah shouted, pointing. Harlem had just disembarked from the med-bus with Dr. Glass.

'How is he?' Abby asked Dr. Glass as Harlem wormed his way between Colm and Summer.

'He's fine, amazingly,' Dr. Glass shook her head. 'No sign of concussion. I'm shocked. There's just that wound on his head. I'd advise waking him up every few hours just to be safe, though.'

'Sure,' Abby nodded. 'Thanks.'

'Of course,' Dr. Glass replied.

'Hey, here comes Colonel Weaver and Dad,' Hal nodded towards the command tent as the two exited. 'Looks like they've decided whether or not you guys can hang around here.'

'We have,' Tom informed them, catching Hal's last comment as he and Weaver approached. 'The Colonel and I have agreed that unless Jimmy and his friends present a danger to the 2nd Mass, they can stay. And at this point, they don't.'

'So they can stay?' Dr. Glass smiled.

'Yep,' Tom nodded, stepping over kids to settle down next to his wife.

'For now,' Weaver added, glaring down at the kids. 'If anything changes though, you're out.'

'Of course,' Jimmy agreed, hopping up and saluting the colonel. 'Thank you, sir.'

Weaver paused before nodding and smiling at the boy. 'Dr. Glass, do you have some extra blankets you can lend these kids for the night? I notice they didn't bring any with them.'

'Sure thing,' Dr. Glass nodded and smiled. 'And some of them can sleep on the beds in the med-bus.'

'If the little kids can sleep in there, the rest of us can stay out here on the ground,' Abby shrugged. 'We're used to it.'

'There should be room for all but two of you,' Dr. Glass replied. 'And those two can sleep in our tent. There's enough room there for two.'

'Thank you,' Abby nodded. 'Jimmy and Dallon can go with you. I'll make sure Harlem doesn't die in his sleep.'

'Sounds like a plan,' Dr. Glass smiled. 'By the way, I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Dr. Glass, and I'd like you to call me Anne.'

'Nice to meet you,' Abby smiled. 'I'm Abby. Going around, that's Mariah, Amanda, Summer, Colm, and this is Dallon. I guess you know Jimmy, and you've met Harlem, so that's everyone.'

'Well, it's wonderful to meet you all,' Anne grinned.

'Where are you all from?' Tom asked as Weaver wandered off and Jimmy sat back down.

'I'm from Chicago,' Colm said immediately, perking up.

'Maine,' Harlem grinned. 'Up where it's nice and cold, unlike this humidity shhhhh-yeah.'

'Yeah, you watch your mouth,' Abby scowled, reaching around Colm to smack Harlem on the back of the head.

'Sorry,' Harlem whined.

'I'm from Virginia,' Amanda smiled. 'I like this weather.'

'I'm from Kansas,' Mariah added.

'New Jersey,' Summer chirped.

'Pssh, easterners,' Dallon teased. 'Whereas _I _hail from the good-old West Coast state of California.'

'California?' Tom repeated, astonished. 'How did you end up over here?'

'I don't really know,' Dallon shrugged. 'My family was visiting friends in Oregon when the skitters landed. We got separated pretty quick, and I just ran the direction I was facing. I guess I was going east-ish, cos I somehow ended up in this area when I got harnessed. One thing led to another, and I got rescued by the rebellion, deharnessed, and packed up with these losers. Now I'm here.'

'That's a pretty amazing story,' Tom shook his head.

'I'm pretty proud of it,' Dallon grinned.

'Where are you from?' Ben asked, leaning around Dallon to look at Abby.

'Uh, Pennsylvania,' Abby shrugged. 'One of the most boring states in America. Home of the Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch.'

'Actually, the Pennsylvania Dutch aren't Dutch—' Tom started.

'They're German,' Abby grinned. 'From the Rhine Valley region. Yeah, I know. I am Pennsylvania Dutch. My family's from Germany, only a few generations back. But, most people just get confused or correct you if you say Pennsylvania German, so I just stick with "Dutch".'

'Good point,' Tom laughed. 'Should've figured you'd know all about that if you're from Pennsylvania.'

'You'd have been surprised by how few people born and raised in P-A knew about that,' Abby shook her head. 'Kinda sad.'

'As a former history professor, that saddens me greatly, yes,' Tom laughed.

'You were a history professor?' Abby repeated. 'Where did you teach?'

'Boston University,' Tom replied.

'Cool,' Abby nodded.

'As fun as this conversation is, it's getting late,' Anne said. 'It's about time to head to bed. Everyone could use some rest, especially if we're moving out tomorrow, and it looks like we are.' She stood up and looked down at the pack of kids sitting on the ground. 'Whoever is sleeping in the med-bus can come with me and I'll get you settled down, and Tom can take the other two to our tent. I'll bring blankets with me when I'm done in the bus.'

'Thanks,' Abby said, standing up. 'We really appreciate it, everything you're doing for us.'

'Of course,' Anne smiled. 'Come one.'

Abby, Summer, Amanda, Mariah, Colm, and Harlem followed Anne back to the med-bus while Tom rounded up his children, Maggie, Jimmy, and Dallon and led them towards a group of tents across the fire circle from the med-bus.

'There is a couch in the back that someone can sleep on,' Anne said as she opened a cabinet and started pulling out blankets. 'There are these two cots, plus the one up there. I figure two of the little ones can sleep in the back, and the other two can sleep on one of the cots, and you and Harlem can take the other two cots.'

'Yeah, that'll work,' Abby nodded. 'If two of them don't fit on the cot, someone can just sleep on the floor.'

'Okay,' Anne nodded. 'There's plenty of blankets in here if you guys get cold, and our tent is the big blue and grey one in the group across the fire circle in case you need anything. I'm going to go and settle Jimmy and Dallon down. You guys can just get comfortable here.'

'Thank you so much,' Abby smiled. 'We really appreciate this.'

'It's no problem,' Anne smiled. 'If you guys decide to stick around, we'll see about finding you a tent.'

'Thanks,' Abby smiled.

'Good night,' Anne waved as she left the bus, bearing several blankets.

'Good night,' Abby called after her before shutting the bus door. She turned to the other kids. 'I'll take the bed in the front. Harlem, you take one of the other beds, and Summer, you can take the other one. Mariah and Amanda, you can sleep in the back. Colm, you can sleep with Summer, Harlem, or me, or you can sleep on the floor.'

'I'll sleep with Summer,' Colm sighed. 'You have to wake Harlem up.'

'That's right,' Abby nodded. 'Thanks for reminding me, buddy.'

The kids scattered to their different beds while Abby pulled blankets out of the cupboard Anne had indicated. She spread one over Harlem, who fell asleep as soon as he laid down, first, then moved over to Summer and Colm, tucking a blanket around each of them. She grabbed two more blankets before moving to the back of the bus to tuck them around Amanda and Mariah. Finally, she grabbed a blanket for herself and settled down on the cot at the front of the med-bus.

'Hey, okay, enough!' Tom scolded. 'Time for bed,' he said, pulling Matt off of Hal after the two had started wrestling. Alexis was already sound asleep in her cot, and Maggie had lain down on the mattress pads she and Hal shared. Ben sat at the end of his cot, laughing at his brothers, while Jimmy sat on the ground next to him. Dallon sat further up on Ben's cot, smirking at the antics of the youngest and oldest Mason boys. All of the boys were shirtless, Ben, Jimmy, and Dallon displaying rough 'Matt, get to bed.'

With a sigh, Matt walked the three feet to his cot, next to Ben's, and sat down on it before pulling off his boots. 'Ben, you too,' Tom said as Hal flopped down next to Maggie and kicked off his shoes.

'Jimmy and I are going to sleep on the ground,' Ben replied. 'Dallon can have my cot.'

'Whatever,' Tom shook his head. Ben slipped off of the cot and onto the ground next to Jimmy, allowing Dallon to lie down on the narrow bed.

Tom sat down on the mattress pads that formed his and Anne's bed and began pulling off his boots. He watched Ben and Jimmy speak softly and trade a few light punches before Ben got his arm around Jimmy's shoulders and put him in a headlock. Dallon joined in the interaction, speaking just as quietly and laughing at the other boys. Tom's smile faltered slightly as he saw Ben and Jimmy's spikes light up briefly and fade.

Anne entered the tent carrying two sleeping bags and a few blankets, the latter tucked under one arm. Her entry put a complete stop to all of the antics going on in the tent, including Matt and Hal surreptitiously throwing dirty socks back and forth at one another when they thought their father wasn't looking. 'So, the sleeping arrangements have changed?' she observed teasingly as Dallon tugged the blanket on Ben's cot further up his body, which was longer than the younger boy's.

'Yeah,' Ben grinned up at her.

'Well, just make sure you guys actually sleep,' Anne smiled, handing a blanket and a sleeping bag each to the two boys on the floor. She joined Tom on their bed as Ben and Jimmy unrolled the sleeping bags and settled down on top of them, snuggling down under the blankets. She watched them whisper for a few more seconds until Tom stepped in front of her, reaching up to turn off the lantern suspended from the center of the tent's ceiling. Tom kicked a stray sock towards Matt's bed and switched off the lantern. Orange light from the dying fire outside seeped through the opening of the tent flaps in the front.

Suddenly, a bright blue light flared up from the floor near the door. There were a few snickers, followed by a stage whisper from Maggie: 'Who's there?'

'It's Jimmy,' Ben replied, sounding half strangled in an attempt to hold in his laughter.

'Jimmy, I hate to break it to ya, man, but you're glowing,' Hal whispered teasingly.

'Yeah, yeah, I'll go outside,' Jimmy sighed. They saw him stand, silhouetted against the glowing firelight outside the tent. 'Where's my shirt?'

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**BrokenSky49: your reviews are insane. They make me laugh. Keep it up ;P**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys! So, this chapter is slightly short... and, reading back over, there isn't much going on... But don't worry! Next chapter, things start to get interesting! (I think...)**

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The next morning, Tom was less than surprised to find Ben, Jimmy, and Dallon gone, their blankets and sleeping bags neatly rolled up and folded. As quietly as possible, so as not to wake his family, Tom stood, grabbing his boots, coat, and gun belt, and tip-toed out of the tent. He looked around outside as he put on his boots and jacket, then strapped the gun belt on as he walked towards the fire circle. The fire had already been lit, and Pope was starting to cook breakfast over it. Tom spotted the three boys across the circle at the med-bus. As he neared them, he observed the dynamic of the trio and Abby. Abby was seated on the ground with her back to the front tire of the med-bus. Ben was leaning against the bus next to Abby, and Jimmy was sitting on the ground next to him. Dallon crouched in a ready position between Abby and Jimmy, Abby's feet resting on his knees. All four of the teenagers wore varying expressions of seriousness and alarm.

'Hey,' Tom called as he approached. 'What's up?'

'Hey, Dad,' Ben replied. 'Morning.'

'Good morning, Professor,' Jimmy smiled wanly.

'Is something wrong?' Tom asked, looking around the circle at the grim faces.

'No, it's fine,' Abby replied quickly.

'Does it have something to do with what happened to you last night, Jimmy?' Tom pressed.

Jimmy sighed and glanced up at Ben before replying. 'Kind of, yeah.'

'Who was it?' Tom asked.

'Samson,' Jimmy replied.

'Who's Samson?' Tom asked.

'Samson is one of the high-ups in the skitter rebellion,' Ben replied. 'He was harnessed for so long that he's more skitter than human now. He has four legs, and his hands and feet are skitter. Most of his face is skitter too, but he still has human eyes, nose, and mouth. His head is shaped like a skitter's, but he has a ton of black dreads too.'

'So pretty recognizable, huh?' Tom remarked. 'What does he have to do with Jimmy's spikes lighting up last night?'

'Samson was the one who connected with me and cause them to light up,' Jimmy explained. 'He told me to meet him in the morning. This morning, Abby and Ben and I went out to find him.'

'What happened?' Tom prompted.

'He doesn't want us to stay here,' Abby sighed. 'Basically. He wants us to go back to the rebellion and keep fighting.'

'What did you say?' Tom asked.

'We said no,' Jimmy replied. 'But Samson doesn't like it if you tell him no.'

'He said they can stay with us for a little while, but he's going to come back for them to carry out some sort of attack with the rebel skitters,' Ben finished.

'Well, if you don't want to go with him then, you don't have to,' Tom reassured them.

'You don't know Samson,' Dallon said suddenly, standing and dumping Abby's legs onto the ground.

'You guys are scared of him, aren't you?' Tom asked, looking at the faces of the teenagers around him.

'Hells yeah,' Abby said angrily, jumping to her feet. 'Samson is terrifying. The skitters aren't bad. They treat us like tools, yeah, but they're… I don't know, nicer about it. I don't know how to explain it. But Samson? Samson could care less. To him, we're disposable, expendable. It sounds like they think the same way, but they don't. Samson is ruthless and harsh and cold and uncaring.'

'Dad, you don't understand,' Ben sighed. 'It's not something we could explain, no matter how hard we try.'

'Okay, okay,' Tom nodded, raising his hands in surrender. 'I'll take your word for it. But if you guys don't want to leave when Samson comes back, we will defend you. They won't force you.'

'Thanks for the thought, Professor,' Jimmy sighed, standing.

'On the bright side, Samson brought our gear,' Abby said, changing the subject. 'We now have clean clothing and our guns.'

'Yeah, I noticed,' Tom laughed. He eyed Abby up. She had swapped her grey and black clothes of the night before for a bright yellow and grey striped long-sleeved shirt under an equally bright yellow t-shirt and dark jeans. 'You're a sight for sore eyes. Or, more accurately, a sight to make eyes sore.'

Abby laughed at the comment and shook her head. 'I can live with that,' she grinned.

Seeing her in proper lighting, Tom was able to get a better view of the girl. She was short, around five feet, and athletically built. She had long, mostly straight, deep red hair that nearly reached her waist, and big, round, chocolate brown eyes. Hidden in the nest of her hair were several brightly colored woven braids. Shorter pieces of hair in the front, over her face, were pulled back this morning, revealing a pale, thin face with pink cheeks, a button nose, and a smattering of dark freckles. She was rather pretty, Tom realized.

Dallon had overgrown dark brown hair and wide dark eyes. His hair almost concealed high, sharp cheekbones, dark circles around his eyes, and a long hook nose. He seemed to have a frown permanently plastered on his narrow face. He was tall and skinny, but, like the other harnessed kids, had a sort of feline grace about him, as well clearly defined muscles under his skin.

Jimmy had changed since the last time Tom saw him lying pale and still on a gurney in the med-bus. His skin was darker and more weathered, and his hair longer and lighter. Currently, he had pulled his hair into a short ponytail. He was taller, thinner, and more muscular. Tom swallowed when he noticed the bumps of spikes running down Jimmy's spine and the uncovered ones at the nape of his neck.

'Sounds like the other kids woke up,' Ben said suddenly, pushing away from the med-bus.

Summer poked her head out the door and looked around before spotting the group. 'Abby! Where did our clothes come from?'

'Samson brought them to me and Jimmy this morning,' Abby replied. 'Get dressed and come outside.'

Summer ducked back inside the bus as Colm came running out. He wore a pair of olive green, dirt-stained cargo pants and a long-sleeved Iron Man t-shirt with holes in the elbows. His sneakers were old and ratty, with fraying laces and held together by duct tape. 'Abby! Hi!' he giggled, flinging himself on the girl.

'Oof,' Abby groaned as he slammed into her. 'Gosh, buddy, you're heavy. Tackle Jimmy or Dallon. You're too big for me.'

'No I'm not,' Colm laughed. 'You're just saying that cos that's what people say to kids my age.'

'Good morning!' Mariah sang as she and Amanda emerged from the bus. Mariah wore a long pink shirt with ruffles at the bottom, stained with dirt and torn at the collar, with grey and black striped leggings. Amanda wore patched jeans and a blue hoodie with brown sneakers that were in only slightly better shape than Colm's.

The two girls scampered over to stand between Jimmy and Dallon as Harlem left the bus. His dark blond hair was matted and dirty, and his face was stained with dirt. He wore a red sweatshirt over a Star Wars t-shirt and jeans with muddy work boots. He had green eyes and freckles, and stared suspiciously at Tom.

'How are you feeling this morning, Harlem?' Anne asked, approaching from behind Tom with Alexis on her hip and Matt in tow.

'Fine, ma'am,' Harlem replied. 'Head's all better.'

'Good,' Anne smiled. 'I'd like to check you out again later, just to be on the safe side, but for now, let's get some breakfast. Pope looks like he'll be done any minute.'

'Breakfast sounds great,' Abby grinned, hoisting Colm up onto her hip.

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**Okayyy! I'm not sure when I'll upload the next chapter... Fun fact about this fic: I currently have written 104 pages for it. That's 38,943. It's divided up into 21 chapters. It's actually longer than the book I've written. I feel like that's kind of sad, considering I've only spent about a week on it...**

**Anyways, today was the first day of my second semester of college! Yay... yeah, but now that that's started, I'm not sure how regularly I'll be updating this or Not All Who Wander are Lost... This should be pretty frequent, since I already have so much written, but yeah. Have a good day, everyone! Reviews are APPRECIATED! *wink, wink, nudge, nudge***


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys! So, I'm almost finished with this whole actual fic; it should be around 25 chapters... So, I'll continue updating at least pseudo-regularly for the next few weeks :3 Once I actually finish it, I plan to start a sequel! So, if you like this one, stay tuned for that... I plan to leave this off on a cliffhanger, so hopefully that will make you all come back for the next part *MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA***

**But yeah, the semester has started and I have craploads of work for my Lit classes (not to mention my philosophy class, and German...) so I'm going to try to update 1-3 times a week, depending how much I write that week/the week before and assuming I don't forget...**

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'How often do you do this?' Abby grunted as she helped Anne and Maggie lift one of the cots from the Masons' tent onto the top of the med-bus where Ben and Jimmy were waiting to pull the wooden frame up.

'Every few days, usually about a week to a week and a half,' Anne replied with a shrug. 'When we're on the road, we don't usually unpack like this, but we needed time to check on the terrain ahead, so we set up camp in this clearing.'

'Huh,' Abby nodded as they hoisted the next cot up. 'Man, these things are heavier than they look.'

'Please,' Jimmy teased. 'You could probably carry one single-handed.'

'Yeah, carry,' Abby shot back. 'Not tote them around over my head like a water jug.'

'A water jug?' Jimmy repeated as he and Ben grabbed the cot and pulled it up.

'Yeah, you know, like in Africa?' Abby replied. 'The stereotypical woman walking around with a big jug of water or basket of fruit on her head.'

'Oh, yeah,' Jimmy nodded. 'Totally get the analogy.'

'Mom!' called Matt.

'What, Matt?' Anne replied.

'Lexie has a cut,' Matt yelled back.

'Is it bad?' Anne called.

'Not too bad,' Matt replied.

'I'll look at it in a few minutes,' Anne decided. 'Just keep an eye on her, okay?'

'Yeah,' Matt called.

'Hey, Mom, is there anything else that needs to come up here?' Ben called down from the top of the med-bus.

'Uh, no, I don't think so, Ben,' Anne replied. 'You guys can come down now.'

Ben and Jimmy easily leapt from the top of the bus to the ground, landing beside Abby.

'Hey, Abby, you wanna come help me strap some tarps over that pickup?' Maggie called, pointing towards a pickup piled with tents and other gear.

'Yeah, sure,' Abby agreed, following Maggie over to the truck.

Ben watched the two girls walk away, and Jimmy watched him. 'Hey, watch it,' Jimmy teased, whacking Ben in the ribs.

'What?' Ben asked, looking at his friend.

'That's my sister!' Jimmy laughed.

'Wha—' Ben started. 'I wasn't—you know—augh, shut up.'

Jimmy laughed and ducked away from a swat from Ben.

'I wouldn't do that,' Ben grumbled, aiming another series of blows towards Jimmy, which the latter dodged easily.

'Whatever you say,' Jimmy laughed.

'Jimmy!' Weaver called, standing a few feet away from the boys. 'There's someone I'd like you to meet.'

Jimmy glanced at Ben before joining Weaver near the dismantled fire circle. 'Jimmy, this is my daughter, Jeanne. Jeanne, this is Jimmy.'

'Nice to meet you,' Jimmy smiled, extending his hand to shake Jeanne's.

'It's great to meet you too,' Jeanne said genuinely. 'My father's told me so much about you. You have no idea how happy he was last night.'

Jimmy glanced at Weaver in surprised. The man shifted slightly, turning slightly red at the comment. 'It's good to have you back, Jimmy,' Weaver admitted.

'It's great to be back,' Jimmy grinned.

'Everybody, load up!' Weaver called as the last few pieces of gear were being fastened down onto trucks.

'Come on,' Ben prompted Jimmy, leading him towards the med-bus. 'We have to figure out where you guys are riding.'

'Ben, Jimmy!' Anne called. 'Come on.' The two boys hurried over to where Anne was standing with Tom, Hal, and Maggie at the front of the med-bus. 'Okay, so, most of the kids are riding in the med-bus,' Anne explained. 'Alexis, Matt, Summer, Amanda, Mariah, and Colm definitely, and I think Harlem too. I'm not sure about Abby or Dallon, or the two of you, obviously.'

'Jimmy!' Weaver called, approaching. 'I was wondering if you'd like to ride with me and Jeannie.'

'Uh, sure,' Jimmy nodded, glancing at Ben and Anne. 'If that's okay.'

'Of course it is,' Anne said. 'We're short on room in the med-bus anyways.'

'Okay,' Jimmy nodded.

As Jimmy walked away, Hal suggested: 'Why don't Ben and Abby ride with me and Maggie? You should have room for Dallon in the bus, right?'

'Yeah, that would work,' Anne nodded. 'So long as you two don't mind riding shotgun on the motorcycles, at least until lunch. Maybe then you can switch out with someone else or we can find somewhere else for you.'

Abby nodded. 'I'm fine with that.'

'Yeah, same,' Ben agreed.

'Dallon, do you mind riding with the kids in the bus?' Abby teased, elbowing him in the ribs.

'Nah, it's fine,' Dallon shrugged. 'Harlem and I could switch out with you two when we stop, if that's fine.'

'Yeah, that would work,' Hal nodded. 'Let's go; we need to move out.'

Ben and Abby followed Hal and Maggie to where their bikes were waiting as Tom, Anne, and Dallon boarded the bus. They mounted the bikes, Ben behind Hal and Abby behind Maggie, as the other vehicles roared and chugged to life around them. Maggie and Hal kicked their bikes to ignition, the motorcycles giving off sputtering roars as they started.

'Have you ever ridden a motorcycle before?' Maggie asked Abby over her shoulder.

'No,' Abby replied, wrapping her arms around Maggie's waist.

'It's fun,' Maggie grinned. 'Just don't hold on too tight.'

'Okay,' Abby gulped, loosening her grip slightly. 'Is now a good time to mention I get motion sickness?'

'No,' Maggie called as they roared to the front of the caravan, the wind stealing her voice from Abby's ears.

'Oh,' Abby said. 'Well, I get motion sickness sometimes, Maggie.'

'Hey!' Anne smiled as Hal, Maggie, Ben, and Abby joined her, Tom, and the rest of the kids at the med-bus when the caravan stopped for lunch. 'How were the motorcycles?'

'Bumpy,' Ben sighed, plopping down on the ground between Matt and Alexis.

'Well, they weren't actually made to carry two people,' Hal laughed. 'They're one-person dirtbikes. Sure there's room for two, but there's not supposed to be two on them. At least not for any length of time.'

'Oh, now you tell me,' Ben replied sarcastically.

'Here you go,' Tom grinned. He handed bowls of food to his sons and Harlem handed some to Abby and Maggie. 'Eat up.'

'Do you want to switch out with Dallon and Harlem?' Anne asked, glancing between Ben and Abby.

'Yes,' Abby answered immediately.

'Yeah,' Ben nodded.

'I'm not sure I want to switch out anymore,' Dallon sighed, earning him a death glare and punch on the shoulder from Abby. 'Ow. I was kidding.'

'Right,' Abby rolled her eyes.

'On the bright side, we've found a good campsite for the next few days,' Tom informed them. 'There's a big clearing a decent way off the main road that we'll be stopping in. Scouts say there's a water source nearby and there's no fresh signs of skitters.'

'That could just mean a patrol hasn't been by in a while,' Hal cautioned.

'Yeah, but that in and of itself means that they don't pay much, if any, attention to the area,' Tom defended. 'It'll be fine for a day or two; we'll just have to stay alert.'

Ben nodded. 'I agree. When we get there, I can check and make sure there's nothing close.'

'Good idea,' Tom nodded. 'I'll let Weaver know.'

'Do you mean with your spikes?' Harlem asked. 'By listening for the skitter's radio waves?'

'Yeah,' Ben nodded. 'Can you guys hear them too?'

'Uh-huh,' Harlem nodded. 'We can help.'

'Sure,' Ben agreed. 'That would be great. We can cover more ground faster.'

'Yeah' Abby nodded. 'We can each take a direction and go a few hundred yards. We can go out further than if it's just one person. We'll all help.'

'Thanks,' Ben smiled.

'Yeah, thank you,' Tom nodded. 'That'll make the whole group safer. I'll tell your idea to Weaver and just clear it with him, but that should be fine.'

'Come on, hurry up and eat,' Anne prompted. 'It looks like Weaver wants to get moving.'

Tom stood up, collecting a few empty dishes from the kids, and walked towards Weaver, presumably to suggest the scouting idea to him. The rest of the group finished up their lunch and cleaned out their bowls as well as they could before returning the bowls to the half-full sack that carried them. The dishes would be properly washed when they made camp that night, but for now they would have to wait. Once the dishes had been loaded into the bag, the Anne herded the smaller children to the med-bus and Hal and Maggie returned to the bikes, taking Harlem and Dallon with them.

'Hey,' Ben said, catching Abby's attention.

'Yeah?' she replied, her distant expression focusing on his face.

'Have you ever ridden on top of a bus?' Ben asked.

'Um, no?' Abby replied with a laugh. 'Why?'

'Well, the inside of the med-bus is pretty cramped right now,' Ben explained. 'Sometimes my dad lets me and Matt ride on top of it. I figured that, even though it's kind of cold, it would be better to ride up there. If you want.'

'Sure,' Abby agreed. 'How do we get up?'

'Jump,' Ben shrugged.

'Yeah, I can't jump that high,' Abby laughed. 'Damaged spikes, remember?'

'That's right,' Ben nodded thoughtfully. 'Do you think you could jump high enough that I could grab your hands and pull you up?'

Abby stared at the bus. 'Yeah, probably.'

'Okay,' Ben grinned. 'I'll just check with my parents and borrow some blankets from Anne.'

**YAYYY! I hope you liked it :3**

**Also, I know you guys are reading this, so I'd really appreciate it if you reviewed!1!1! So far, only BrokenSky49 has reviewed... And she's my roommate, so she doesn't have a choice, which is why the word 'awesomesauce' is in 3/4 of them... ;P So, this is my shameless pleading for reviews...**

**ALSO, I may soon be the proud mother of a fish. This is exciting. =D Take my word for it.**


	6. Chapter 6

***Le gasp* I'm publishing two chapters in one day!? What is this!? Well, technically, chapter 5 was published yesterday, so... Anyways, I finished the fic (FIRST FIC I'VE EVER COMPLETELY FINISHED!) so this is a celebratory chapter. Wahoo!**

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'Here!' Abby called. Ben had already climbed to the top of the bus and was waiting for her to toss up the two blankets they had borrowed from Anne. She waited until he had turned towards her to toss up the rolled-up blankets. Ben caught them and placed them behind him on the walled-in rack on top of the med-bus.

'Ready?' he called down to Abby.

'Yeah,' she sighed backing up a few feet. She took a deep breath and ran towards the bus, reaching up to grab onto Ben's hands. He caught her as she slammed into the side of the bus with a crash, eliciting surprised shouts from the occupants. With some difficulty due to the awkward position, Ben pulled Abby the rest of the way up. She helped as much as she could, her feet scrabbling for purchase against the smooth side of the bus. Ben moved one hand from her wrist to her bicep as she reached the top and pulled her the rest of the way into the basket, sending the two of them tumbling backwards in a tangle of arms and legs.

'Everyone okay up there?' Tom called from below them, sounding like he was withholding laughter.

'We're fine, Dad,' Ben called back, slightly winded by the fact that Abby was laying on his chest.

'Sorry,' Abby whispered, lifting herself off of Ben.

'You're fine,' he laughed as they disentangled themselves. 'Hal and Dallon found it very amusing.'

Abby laughed. 'That was one of my least graceful moments since I was spiked. And I bet it was funny.'

'Yeah,' Ben grinned. 'Here,' he added, handing her one of the blankets.

'Thanks,' Abby smiled gratefully, wrapping it around her shoulders. 'It feels even colder than it was this morning.'

'Maybe it is,' Ben shrugged. 'It feels kind of like there's a storm coming in.'

Abby looked around. 'There is,' she nodded. 'Or rain, at least.'

'How do you know?'

'Look at the leaves,' she said, pointing at the trees around them. 'See how the wind is flipping them upside down? That means it's going to rain. It's something my grandma always said.'

'I don't understand how the leaves turning over means it's going to rain,' Ben said.

'It's something with the way the wind blows when the rain is coming in,' Abby shrugged. 'I don't know why exactly, I just know it mean rain.'

Ben nodded. 'I guess we'll find out,' he said, sounding skeptical.

'It'll rain,' Abby replied, confidant. 'I don't know when, how hard, or how long, but it's going to rain. I hope it waits until we get to camp. I don't want to get stuck up here in the rain.'

'I told you it was going to rain,' Abby said sourly. She and Ben were huddled together under the damp blankets on top of the med-bus.

'Yeah, you win,' he replied.

'We're probably going to get sick now,' she said.

'Just be glad we're not on the motorcycles anymore,' he assured her. 'Trust me, that is not fun in a downpour like this.'

'I hope we're near that clearing your dad mentioned,' Abby sighed, shivering as a drop of water seeped through the blankets and trickled down her spine.

'I think so,' Ben said, peering out from under the blankets. 'The rain may have slowed us down, but I do think we're close. We were supposed to reach the clearing a few hours after lunch, I think, and it's been almost five.'

'That's some interesting logic,' Abby teased.

'No, I think they said three or four hours at lunch,' Ben shook his head. 'The rain hasn't slowed us down too much, so it shouldn't be too much further.'

'I really hope not,' Abby shivered.

'I told you we weren't far,' Ben said triumphantly as the med-bus trundled into the clearing.

'I feel like we've been playing "I told you so" since we got up here,' Abby sighed.

Ben winced, shifting the blankets over the two. 'Do you hear that?'

'What?' Abby replied. 'Oh. Skitter radio? Yeah, I just tuned in.'

'That means there's a lot of them, and they're close,' Ben said grimly. 'We can't stay here.

'There's no way we're getting back out to the road with all that mud,' Abby replied. 'We should let your dad know and go check it out. With this rain we can't even tell if they were here already or not.'

'I know,' Ben said, squinting towards the ground. 'And with the vehicles coming in the ground has been so disturbed that we couldn't see the tracks anyways.'

The two lurched forward as the med-bus shrieked to a stop. 'Come on,' Ben said, standing up and flinging the blankets off of his shoulders. 'Can you jump down?'

'Yeah,' Abby nodded, standing. The two walked to the edge of the basket and leapt towards the ground. Unfortunately, the rain had turned the ground into a mud slop, and they both landed with a squelch, their feet slipping out from beneath them, and crashed onto their backs with a loud splat.

'Ugh,' Abby groaned, sitting up. 'So disgusting.'

'It's just mud,' Ben shrugged, slipping to his feet and reaching down to pull Abby up. 'It'll wash off. For now, let's just deal with the skitters.'

'The radio chatter is fading,' Abby pointed out.

'Doesn't mean anything,' Ben shrugged. 'They could just be settling down for the night.'

'True,' Abby nodded. The two looked towards the med-bus and squinted as the door opened and light shone out from the interior.

'Oh my god, you two are _not_ coming in here like that!' Anne exclaimed.

'Dad!' Ben called, trudging through the mud to the bus. 'There are skitters nearby,' he spluttered as the downpour increased. 'A lot of them. We can hear their radio waves, but we can't tell if it's the rebels or not.'

'Great,' Tom groaned. 'There's no way we'll be able to get back to the road with this mud.'

'Stay in the bus,' Ben said. 'Power down as much as possible. We're going to talk to Weaver, maybe grab Jimmy and Dallon and Harlem, then head out to scout the skitters.'

'Are you sure?' Tom asked. 'Maybe we can just hunker down here for the night.

'No,' Ben shook his head. 'We need to know now. We'll be fine, Dad.'

'Okay,' Tom nodded. 'Stay safe. Send Hal and Maggie over here if you see them.'

'Okay,' Ben agreed. He turned and joined Abby, and the two trucked through the mud in the direction of the head of the convoy.

'Colonel!' Ben called when they reached the truck. He could see Weaver standing outside of it in the gloom, talking to Jimmy, Hal, Maggie, Dallon, and Harlem.

'Ben, Abby,' Weaver nodded. 'We're staying in the vehicles tonight. We'll set up camp in the morning.'

'Sir, there's a group of skitters nearby,' Ben interrupted.

'Skitters?' Weaver repeated. 'Scouts cleared the area.'

'How do you know?'

'We picked up their radio chatter when we pulled into the clearing,' Ben replied.

'Harlem and I didn't hear anything,' Dallon said.

'We were on the other side of the clearing,' Abby replied. 'Maybe you guys weren't close enough. I can't hear it anymore.'

'She's right,' Ben agreed. 'Either way, we can't just ignore it. Let us go check it out.'

'We can at least determine if it's rebels or not,' Abby added.

'By "we" who do you mean?' Weaver asked.

'Me, Abby, Jimmy, Dallon, and Harlem,' Ben replied. 'We can move faster and quieter than anyone else, and more easily.'

Weaver nodded reluctantly. 'Fine. Report to me when you get back.'

'Yes, sir,' Ben nodded.

Weaver opened the door of the truck and climbed in. 'Hal, Maggie, Mom and Dad said you guys should go to the med-bus,' Ben added.

'Okay,' Hal nodded. 'Be careful.'

'Yeah,' Ben smiled. Hal and Maggie began to trudge towards the med-bus while the spiked kids remained near the truck.

'Do we at least have a plan?' Dallon asked crossly.

'We walk in, fan out when we get near, and get close enough to tell whether or not the skitters are rebels,' Ben replied.

Dallon shrugged. 'Better than nothing.' He sighed heavily. 'Which way?'

'That way,' Ben pointed, and the five set off in the direction he indicated.

'What do you think?' Abby whispered, squinting through the rain. 'I can't see enough from here.'

'Rebels,' Ben replied. 'Definitely. I see lots of spiked kids. I think I recognize a couple.'

A rustle sounded in the bushes to their left, and Jimmy and Harlem stepped through.

'Verdict?' Ben asked.

'Rebels,' Jimmy replied. 'We saw Samson.'

'As soon as Dallon gets back, we can head back to the clearing,' Ben said, looking back down on the skitter camp.

'I'm here,' Dallon said, stepping through the foliage to the right. 'They're rebels. And it looks like they're moving away from the clearing anyways.'

'Great,' Ben said. 'All agreed.'

'Let's go back,' Harlem shivered. 'It's wet. And cold. And did I mention wet?'

'Shut up,' Abby teased, whacking him in the shoulder. 'The rain's stopping anyways.'

The five teenagers set off in the direction of their clearing. The reached it faster than they had taken to get to the skitter camp, grateful for the slowing rain.

As they stepped into the clearing, the rain stopped. 'Seriously!?' Dallon exclaimed, flinging out his arms.

'Deal with it,' Jimmy retorted, jabbing him with the butt of his gun.

'Let's just report to Colonel Weaver,' Ben said. 'Then we can get back to the med-bus and find some dry clothes.'

'I like that plan,' Harlem grumbled.

'Me too,' Abby agreed.

The five teenagers trekked through the ankle-deep mud to the truck containing Colonel Weaver and Jeanne. When he saw them approach, he opened the door and climbed out, landing in the mud with a squelch. 'Well?' he called.

'They're rebels,' Ben replied. 'We think they're headed away from here, too.'

'Good,' Weaver nodded. 'You guys can check again in the morning, and if you still believe that, we'll set up camp.'

Ben nodded in agreement after looking at the others and receiving various shrugs and nods of conformation.

'Head back to the med-bus,' Weaver instructed. 'Get yourselves cleaned up and fed, and try to get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning.'

'Yes, sir,' Ben nodded. He and the others turned and started their trek for the med-bus, but Weaver stopped them with:

'If you need somewhere to sleep, you can bring a tarp and cover the truckbed,' Weaver called after them. 'That bus might be a little cramped.'

'Just a little,' Ben called back with a laugh. 'Thanks.'

As they  
reapproached the med-bus, the door opened, revealing Anne standing with her arms crossed.

'You are _not_ coming in here like that,' she said sternly. 'I will give you clothes, and you can change. I'll give you a blanket and you can hold it up for one another.'

The teens traded glances as Anne picked up two backpacks from the floor behind her and tossed them out. 'There are some clothes, and there's a blanket in one.'

Abby opened the bag she had caught. 'The clothes are just what I could find around here that looked like they would fit,' Anne added. 'Hurry up. It's late, and everyone needs sleep.'

The five made their way to the back of the bus. 'Abby, did you find anything you think will fit?' Jimmy asked. 'You're the smallest, so it'll be hardest for you.'

'Um, a pair of sweatpants with a drawstring, and a plaid button-up that looks kind of big,' she replied. 'There's another pair of sweats in here that might be the only thing that will fit Dallon since he's so tall and skinny.'

'Yeah,' Dallon sighed. 'Nothing in here will fit me,' he added, handing his bag to Jimmy.

'Here,' Abby said, handing her bag to Dallon sans the pants and shirt she had claimed.

'This is a big blanket,' Harlem said as he and Ben started to unfold it.

'Two of us can hold it along our backs so that it's sort of a "v" against the bus, and someone can stand in there and change,' Ben suggested.

'That'll work,' Jimmy agreed.

'Here,' said Dallon, handing the second bag to Jimmy. He held up a t-shirt and the sweatpants Abby had mentioned. 'This'll do.

'You can go first,' Ben said.

'Yeah, you're the tallest, so we need you to hold the blanket,' Abby laughed.

'You guys are so short I'm gonna have to double over to stay decent,' Dallon grumbled.

'Just go,' Abby sighed. 'I'm freezing in this wet stuff, and I think the mud is starting to harden.'

'Fine,' Dallon groaned. He stepped against the back of the bus and waited until Ben and Harlem raised the blanket. 'You guys are so short,' he complained

'Deal with it,' Harlem growled.

'It's not our fault you're a seven-foot-tall giant,' Abby added.

'Hurry up,' Jimmy said, shifting his weight. 'We're all freezing.'

'Done,' said Dallon, stepping out from behind the blanket as he pulled on his shirt. 'Next.'

'Abby, go ahead,' said Harlem.

Abby nodded and stepped behind the blanket once Dallon had traded places with Harlem. She pulled her shirts of quickly, pausing as they got tangled in her long hair. 'Ow. I should cut my hair.'

'You have pretty hair,' Jimmy said absently as he found clothes that would fit him and handed the bags to Harlem.

'It's a pain,' Abby sighed, freeing her hair from the shirts. 'It gets dirty so quick, gets tangled in my clothes and branches when I'm in the woods, and ends up a knotty mess after a few days of living like this.'

'Then cut it,' Harlem replied.

'Thing is, it's taken me five years to get it this long,' Abby replied. 'My mom and sister didn't think I'd ever be able to keep it longer than my shoulders, so I swore I'd grow it out to my waist. It's not there yet, and it's almost like that's the last thing I have left of them.'

'Are you getting all sentimental about your _hair_?' Dallon groaned, shifting where he stood.

'Yep,' Abby replied.

'You're acting like a girl,' Dallon said, rolling his eyes.

'Maybe that's because I am a girl,' Abby shot back, stepping out.

Jimmy and Harlem burst out laughing when they saw her. 'Nice,' Harlem laughed. Ben and Dallon peered at her and smiled themselves.

Abby stood, dressed in much too large sweatpants that she had rolled up several times at the bottom and an oversized plaid button-up shirt with half of the sleeves ripped off. She glared at the boys. 'Shut it. Next.'

She switched places with Ben, making the blanket very uneven due to the almost two-foot height difference between her and Dallon as Jimmy stepped behind the blanket. He changed quickly into a green and white rugby shirt and sports warm-up pants and stepped out to take Abby's place.

Harlem changed almost as quickly as Jimmy had, emerging in jeans that looked too big for him and a Chincoteague Island hoodie. Ben ducked behind the blanket and emerged wearing jeans and another plaid-button up. 'I look like a hick,' he joked, stuffing his muddy clothes into one of the knapsacks while Dallon and Jimmy folded the blanket. The five trekked back to the door of the med-bus, where Anne was still waiting.

'Shoes come off and stay on the steps,' she said quietly, stepping back so the kids could enter. 'The girls are on the back couch. Hal and Maggie have two of the cots, and Matt and Colm are sharing the other. You guys get the floor. You know where the blankets are.'

Anne settled into the seat at the front of the bus as the kids filed in. 'Jimmy and I will both fit on the floor in the back, and probably Harlem too, but I think Dallon is too tall,' Abby whispered.

'Probably,' Dallon agreed, peering into the back.

'Then we'll sleep out here,' Ben said.

'Don't step on Tom,' Anne cautioned as Abby, Jimmy, and Harlem made their way towards the back of the bus. They stepped over Tom as they went, passing the cots silently. Anne had spread sleeping bags over the floor to pad it slightly for those sleeping on it.

'Abby!' Colm whispered.

'What, buddy?' Abby replied.

'Take me with you,' Colm said, sitting up and reaching his arms out for her to pick him up. She lifted him up and balanced him on her hip before continuing.

'Ben can sleep with me,' Matt said softly. Wordlessly, Ben complied, crawling onto the cot next to his brother and wrapping his arms around the younger boy to keep him from falling off. Dallon laid down on the floor near the door, curling up under a blanket that Harlem tossed him. Abby, Jimmy, Harlem, and Colm made their way to the back and curled up on the floor. Jimmy and Harlem laid down, curling up under blankets, but Abby merely sat on the floor with Colm on her lap.


	7. Chapter 7

Anne was the first to wake up the next morning to sun streaming through the windshield. She uncurled and groaned as she stretched, stiff from sitting in the driver's seat all night. She peered further back into the bus and smiled as she saw the scene set there. Dallon was sprawled across two sleeping bags on his stomach. He had kicked his blanket off, and it now lay under Hal's cot. Maggie was sound asleep in her cot, her golden hair splayed across the pillow. In the center section of the bus, Tom was sleeping on his back, his hands under his head. Anne couldn't see Hal from her position, but she could see Ben and Matt. Matt was in the front of the cot, while Ben was in the back, pressed between his brother and the wall. Matt was asleep, one of his arms and both of his feet hanging into the aisle. Ben was curled up slightly, his arms wrapped around Matt's stomach and his face buried in Matt's curly hair. At first, Anne thought he was asleep, but as she watched, he moved slightly, reaching down and lifting Matt's arm back onto the bed before tightening his grip on Matt and curling up more. In the very back, all four of the girls crammed onto the couch were still asleep and mostly out of view. Harlem had somehow worked his way into the aisle and was sleeping with his head near Tom's and his feet against the couch. Jimmy was curled up with his head on Harlem's legs and the rest of his body out of view. Abby was almost invisible; Anne could only see one foot, half of an arm, and Colm's legs where he was curled up on her lap.

She observed this all slowly, taking it in carefully; she wanted to be able to remember the rare peaceful moment. She was surprised to realize that she already thought of the eight new children as part of her growing family, although she had only met them a day and a half previous.

A sudden loud banging on the door drew her attention and rapidly ended the peaceful scene. Dallon jumped and shouted, banging his head on Maggie's cot, which woke her up. The bang and Dallon's shout woke up Tom, Hal, and Ben as well, Tom and Hal sitting straight up, while Ben lifted his head, looking plainly alarmed. In the back, Harlem flailed around, trying to roll over with Jimmy's head on his legs, and only managed to kick Abby with his slightly freer leg.

Anne nearly dissolved into laughter at the sight, but went to open the door while everyone else oriented themselves.

'Good morning, Colonel,' she said with a smile. 'Come on in.'

'Good morning, Anne,' Weaver replied gruffly. He stepped in, observing the muddy shoes, backpacks, clothes, and blanket at the stairs. 'Who's awake?'

'Almost everyone,' Anne replied. She looked into the back of the bus to figure out who was completely awake. Hal and Maggie were sitting up, blankets still wrapped around their shoulders in the early morning chill. Tom was on his feet, strapping on his gun belt. Dallon was still sitting on his sleeping bag, clutching his head. Ben's head had dropped, and Matt was still asleep. In the back, it looked like all of the girls and Jimmy were still asleep, but Harlem had managed to extricate himself from Jimmy and sit up and Abby had disappeared from view with Colm. 'You can see for yourself.'

Tom had finished with his belt and was standing over Ben and Matt, an expression of wonder on his face. He turned to Anne and mouthed "he's asleep", pointing at Ben. Anne smiled in response, as thrilled as Tom was since Ben rarely slept.

'Be as quiet as you can,' she told Weaver, leaning down to check on Dallon's head. Weaver stepped up to stand next to the driver's seat. 'I was going to have some of the spiked kids go check on the skitter force again, but some of our scouts saw them heading back the direction we came, so I'm not going to make them go now.'

'It's cool,' Dallon mumbled. 'Harlem and I are up; we can head over and check on it. It'll be easier going with the light, and no rain, and the mud should be mostly dry. Plus, we know where we're going now. We can probably be back in two hours, three tops.'

'Okay,' Weaver nodded.

'I need pants first,' Harlem grumbled as he picked his way to the front of the bus. 'No way can I run or trek through the woods in these.'

'I'll climb up top and get our clothes down,' Dallon replied. 'Come on,' he added, standing and grabbing his shoes on the way out of the bus. Harlem followed, holding the too-big pants up with one hand and grabbing his shoes with the other. There was a thump as Dallon landed on the roof, then two softer whumps as he tossed his and Harlem's backpacks.

'Let the other kids sleep,' Weaver said sympathetically. 'It's been a long few days, and who know what those other spiked kids went through before they got here.'

'Hell, from what I've heard them saying,' Tom replied softly, stepping away from Ben and Matt's bed after covering them up with the blanket Ben had kicked off.

'I'm sure,' Weaver nodded. He and Tom left the bus, Tom grabbing his shoes from the steps on the way out. 'What have they said?'

'Not much, but I heard Matt and one of the girls, Summer, talking in the bus yesterday,' Tom replied. 'She said that the skitters used them as foot soldiers, sending them into skirmishes to fight with only one or two rebels with them. Colm said that their pack usually got sent in alone, or sometimes with this guy named Samson, who's apparently more skitter than human.'

'That's a hard life for anyone, especially such young kids,' Weaver shook his head. 'Do you know how old they are?'

'Colm is eight,' Tom shook his head sadly. 'Mariah is nine, Amanda is ten, and Summer is eleven. Then there's Jimmy and Harlem, who are fifteen, Abby is seventeen, and Dallon is nineteen.'

'Eight,' Weaver repeated, astonished.

'Yeah,' Tom nodded. 'It's horrible. He was six when he was harnessed.'

'What do they even want with kids that young?' Weaver wondered.

'I guess they just take what they can get,' Tom said wryly.

'I guess,' Weaver agreed. He looked around. 'I don't want to get unpacked or anything until Dallon and Harlem get back, but I don't think we have too much to worry about. There's a few people who have started doing laundry and dishes in the river, and I think a few are even bathing. I'm not letting anyone getting too settled in, but I think we'll be safe here for a little while.'

'I hope so,' Tom sighed. 'We've been running since we left Boston.'

'That we have,' Weaver agreed. 'Even I'm feeling a need to slow down.'

Tom laughed at the comment. 'Charleston softened you up, Dan.'

'That's what I'm afraid of,' Weaver complained.

Ben woke up slowly, feeling better rested than he had since the removal of his harness a year and a half before. His arms were still wrapped around Matt, who was still asleep and snoring softly. He looked across the bus and was surprised to see not only Hal gone but several rolled-up sleeping bags piled on his cot. Ben lifted his head and discovered that the floor was clear, and Maggie was also gone. He tried to peer into the back, but couldn't see anything from where he was lying.

'Morning, sleepyhead,' Anne smiled, walking back from the front of the bus.

'What time is it?' Ben asked, pulling his arm out from under Matt.

'Not sure,' Anne replied. 'At least nine or ten.'

'Ugh,' Ben groaned. 'I can't believe I slept so late.'

'Don't worry,' Anne smiled warmly. 'You need sleep.'

Ben sighed and scratched his neck. 'Sure,' he sighed.

'Come on, breakfast is out there,' Anne said. 'Your stuff is on the cot in the front if you want to change.'

'Thanks,' Ben nodded. 'I'll be out in a few. Do you want me to wake Matt up?'

'No, just let him and the others sleep,' Anne shook her head. 'It's been a long time since we could rest.'

Ben nodded again as Anne left. Carefully, so as not to disturb Matt, he slipped off the bed and rearranged the blanket over his younger brother. He walked to the cot in the front of the bus, where his backpack was along with several others. He pulled a shirt out, then unbuttoned the plaid one he had donned the night before and pulled it on. He got out a pair of pants and returned to his and Matt's bed to change into them, sitting on the edge of the cot. He folded the borrowed clothes and set them on the cot next to the backpacks before moving towards the back of the bus to grab his weapons. He fastened his gun belt around his hips and grabbed his rifle. He turned as he started to sling the rifle over his shoulder, then jumped and nearly dropped the gun when he realized that Abby was awake and watching him from the floor of the back compartment.

'Morning,' she snickered. 'Didn't mean to scare you.'

'I didn't realize you were awake,' Ben replied, slinging his gun across his back.

'Yeah, I have been for a while, but I don't want to move Colm,' Abby replied, shifting slightly. 'I don't want him to wake up.'

'Do you want to lay him down with Matt?' Ben asked, glancing back at his brother.

'Sure,' Abby sighed. 'It's better than the floor.' She squirmed around, trying to get her feet under her. 'Gah,' she muttered.

'Here,' said Ben, stepping forward. He leaned down and took Colm from her, then carried him to Matt's cot and laid him down.

'Thanks,' said Abby. She stood up and paused in the doorway. 'Hey, could you stand outside and make sure no-one comes in so I can change?'

'Sure,' Ben nodded. He went outside, Abby following him to the front of the bus to the backpacks.

Ben waited against the side of the bus next to the door, shivering until Abby came out. 'Here,' she said, handing him a big black jacket. 'Yours is all muddy,' she explained.

'Whose is this?' Ben asked, pulling it on.

'I have an extra,' she replied. She wore dark grey leggings with a pair of mint-green shorts and a thick grey shirt with an oversized camouflage jacket over top. Her brown boots were completely covered in mud.

'Come on,' Ben said. 'Breakfast is over there.'

As the two walked towards the new fire circle, Abby pulled her messy hair into an unruly ponytail. 'What happened to your face?' Ben asked, looking at a large, purpley bruise on Abby's left cheekbone that hadn't been there the day before.

'Harlem kicked me when he woke up,' Abby laughed.

'How did he manage that?' Ben asked.

'Well, he was laying on his stomach with his legs up the couch, and Jimmy was laying on his legs,' Abby explained. 'When he woke up, he was trying to get Jimmy off and just ended up flailing around and kicked me in the face.'

'Ouch,' Ben laughed.

'Morning!' Hal called as the two approached. 'Sleepyheads.'

'Shut up,' Ben shot back, punching Hal lightly in the shoulder.

'Ooh, that looks painful,' Maggie said, looking at Abby's face.

'Yeah, a little,' she shrugged. 'I've had way worse,' she added with a laugh.

'Here,' said Maggie, handing Abby a chunk of granola.

'What is it?' Abby asked, eyeing up the unappetizing morsel.

'Granola, raisins, craisins, and some stale cherios,' Maggie replied. 'I'm not really sure how they're stuck together, but I'm not sure I want to know.'

'Okay,' Abby nodded. 'How am I supposed to eat it?'

'Here,' said Maggie, handing her a tin cup and a spoon. 'Put it in the cup, break it apart with the spoon.'

'Okay,' Abby nodded. She took the cup and spoon from Maggie, put the chunk of breakfast in it, and started chopping it up with the spoon.

Ben did the same with his own breakfast. 'Hey, what about the skitters? Weaver said he wanted to send us back out to check on them this morning.'

'Some of the scouts saw a skitter force headed the way we came yesterday,' Hal replied. 'Weaver isn't too worried about them, but he sent Harlem and Dallon to check it out anyways. They were the only ones awake when he came by.'

'I think I remember that,' Ben said.

'You kind of woke up,' Hal replied. 'You sort of sat up, then flopped back down and hugged Matt like a teddy bear.'

'I remember it,' Abby said around a mouthful of food. 'That's when Harlem kicked me.'

'Sorry,' Harlem said, sneaking up behind Abby and clapping his hands down on her shoulders, startling her and nearly causing her to choke on her breakfast.

'Off,' she grunted, swinging an arm around to elbow Harlem in the hip. He dodged and plopped down between her and Ben.

'What's the verdict on the skitters?' Hal asked.

'They're gone,' Harlem replied. 'Dallon and I followed their tracks to the road and down past the point we left it. We already told Colonel Weaver and your dad.'

'So we can stay here?' Maggie grinned. 'That's great.'

'I never thought I'd say it, but I miss Charleston,' Hal laughed. 'I miss sleeping indoors, on a bed, eating real food at a table… but it is great to be back out here with the 2nd Mass.'

'Hey!' Tom called as he approached. 'Morning Ben, Abby. How did you two sleep last night?'

'Pretty well, thanks,' Abby smiled.

'Yeah, great,' Ben agreed. 'Better than I've slept since… since before the skitters invaded.'

'That's good,' Tom grinned. 'We'll be staying here for a while. In a little while, we'll set up the tent and the extension for the bus.' He turned to Abby and Harlem. 'You and the others are welcome to stay with us. We'll have to keep the med-bus clear in case something happens, but you can sleep in our tent until we can find something for you.'

'Thank you,' Abby smiled gratefully. 'We all appreciate everything you're doing for us.'

'It's nothing,' Tom reassured her. 'We'd do it for anyone. The tent's going to be more than a little crowded, but it'll work for now.'

'We don't want to cause trouble,' Abby said quickly. 'We'd be just fine sleeping outside.'

'Not going to happen,' Anne said, approaching from the direction of the river. 'I don't want to have to deal with a bunch of pneumonia cases, for one. It's cold, and damp, and you'll get sick if you stay outside. Not to mention it wouldn't be morally right.'

'We've been sleeping outside since we were deharnessed,' Abby shook her head. 'We'll be fine.'

'No,' Anne said decisively. 'We'll make it work.'

Abby sighed and shook her head. 'Whatever you say, Doc. Thank you.'


	8. Chapter 8

'Abby, I'm cold,' Colm grumbled. He was standing in front of Abby, his back to her, with a worn-out towel over his head.

'When your hair dries, you'll be warmer,' Abby replied, rubbing the towel vigorously on his head. The two, as well as their six pack mates and most of the other kids and teens in the camp, had taken quick baths in the freezing cold river after lunch, before racing back up to the camp to dry off and change into dry clothes. Now, Abby was sitting on the ground in front of Maggie, who was trying to rip a brush as painlessly as possible through Abby's tangled mess of hair. The 2nd Mass had spent the morning setting up camp once Harlem and Dallon had reported back that the skitters were gone, allowing some time for a more relaxed atmosphere. Sentries patrolled the camp perimeter, and a few scouts were patrolling deeper in the woods.

Abby pulled the towel off of Colm's head and turned him around. 'Done. You can go now.'

'Yay!' Colm squealed, racing off towards where Mariah, Amanda, Summer, Alexis, and Matt had started a game of tag.

'How's it going there, Maggie?' Anne asked, joining the two girls near the fire.

'I think I've got about half of the knots out, and I think I've ripped out about half of her hair,' Maggie laughed.

'On the bright side, with less hair, there will be fewer knots next time I have to brush it,' Abby joked.

'Hopefully,' Anne laughed.

'Hey,' said Tom, joining the group. 'Where is everyone?'

'Hal is out scouting,' Anne replied. 'Ben, Harlem, Dallon, and Jimmy wandered off somewhere, and the younger kids are over there.'

The camp was set up slightly differently than the last had been. Rather than an outer circle of vehicles, with the tents set up on the ground inside of them and a fire circle in the center, the tents were grouped into mini-camps, the vehicles of the occupants parked nearby. Each mini-camp had a small fire circle. The mini-camps were arranged in a rough circle around a larger fire circle, near which the command tent was located.

The Masons and the eight spiked children had camped together between the river and the entrance to the camp. The med-bus was parked parallel to the river, one side opened up to a built-up platform that formed a curtained-off extension for Anne and Lourdes to work in. Nearer to the clearing entrance, the Masons' tent had been set up on a raised wooden platform. Inside, Tom and Anne's bed was on the right, Hal and Maggie's was on the left, and the cots were lined up in the back. The floor between the beds and cots had been turned into nests made of sleeping bags and blankets from the med-bus's stockpile.

'Hey, Anne,' called Lourdes, approaching from one of the nearby camp circles.

'Hey, Lourdes,' Anne called back. 'What's up?'

'I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to stay with Jeanne again, at least for tonight,' Lourdes replied.

'Are you sure?' Anne asked. 'There's always room for you with us.'

'I know,' Lourdes smiled. She waved slightly and walked back to the other campsite.

'Dad!' Ben called. He, Jimmy, Dallon, and Harlem were approaching from the river. 'Look what we've got!'

'Are those fish!?' Anne asked.

'Yep,' Ben grinned. Each of the boys held a string with about five fish on it, the largest nearly a foot long. 'We caught them.'

'How?' Tom asked, taking Ben's string and looking at the fish.

Ben shrugged. 'With sticks. We broke them off so they had sharp ends and speared the fish.'

'These will be great for dinner,' Anne said, examining Harlem's fish. 'We can skin them and roast them over the fire. We don't have anything to fry them in, but it'll be good.'

'How many did you get?' Tom asked, laying the fish on the towel Colm had used earlier. 'I'll wash it tomorrow,' he said in response to Anne's glare.

'I got six,' Ben replied, sitting on the ground next to his father and pulling out his knife.

'I got five,' Harlem said.

'Six,' Dallon added.

'Four,' Jimmy sighed. 'I'm not very good at spearing fish.'

'That's twenty-one fish,' Maggie marveled. 'And there are how many of us? About fifteen?'

'Fourteen,' Anne corrected. 'There will be plenty here for everyone. I can go ask Weaver if he and Jeanne and Lourdes want to join us.'

'That sounds like a great idea,' Tom nodded. 'We'll get to work skinning and cooking these fish.'

'I'll go and talk to Weaver,' Anne smiled. She stood up and made her way towards Weaver's campsite, skirting the energetic game of tag on her way.

'I can help,' Abby said, looking over at Tom and the boys as Maggie continued to comb her tangled hair.

'If you're holding a knife while Maggie's ripping that comb through your hair, you'll cut your own fingers off,' Jimmy laughed, picking up a fish and pulling out his knife.

'Good point,' Abby agreed, wincing as Maggie's comb caught in a particularly large and stubborn knot.

'Are we de-boning them or whatever?' Dallon asked, flopping the fish he had skinned.

'Sure,' Tom replied. 'Do you know how?'

'Uh…' Dallon started at the fish in his hand. 'Sort of. Not really.'

'Well, hold on while I finish this one and I'll show you,' Tom laughed.

'I have to say, these are some good fish,' Weaver said. 'I appreciate whoever caught them. And thank you, Tom and Anne, for letting us join you.'

'Of course,' Anne smiled. 'We would've had extra anyways. Thank you and Jeanne and Lourdes for helping us finish it.'

'Thanks to Ben, Harlem, Dallon, and Jimmy for catching the fish in the first place,' Tom added, glancing at the boys.

'Next task: figuring out how and where everyone is going to sleep in the tent tonight,' Hal joked.

'Well, we'll leave that to you,' Weaver said, standing and brushing off his pants. 'So long, and thanks for all the fish.'

'Good night, Colonel,' Anne replied, smiling warmly. 'Good night, Jeanne, Lourdes.'

'Good night, Anne,' Lourdes smiled. The trio departed for their mini-camp, leaving the Masons and spiked kids at their fire.

'Okay, time to get ready for bed,' Anne said, standing up. 'Let's go.' She herded her family and the other kids into the tent. 'Tom and I are over here. Lexie can sleep with us. Hal and Maggie are over there.'

'Matt can sleep in our bed,' Hal shrugged. 'There's room.'

'Okay,' Anne nodded. 'We'll see how much room we have before we decide that. How about you girls take the cots?'

'Yeah, Mariah and Amanda can share one, and Summer and I can share the other,' Abby nodded.

'There's enough room that you and Summer can each take one cot,' Anne replied. 'And the boys can sleep on the floor; maybe Jimmy, Ben, and Colm on one side and Harlem and Dallon on the other, and Matt can sleep with Hal.'

'Sounds like a plan,' Tom agreed. 'Everyone happy with that?'

'Abby, I want to sleep with you,' Colm whined, clutching at Abby's leg.

'Colm, sleep with me tonight,' Jimmy said, bending down and picking the small boy up. 'You kept Abby up half the night last night. Maybe tomorrow you can sleep with her.'

Colm nodded grumpily, rubbing his eyes.

'Okay, let's start getting settled in,' Anne smiled. 'Leave your shoes and big guns by the door. Hand guns can stay with you if you want, but I'd prefer them over here.'

Obediently, the kids kicked off their shoes and lined them up near the door. Hal, Maggie, Tom, Ben, Matt, and Jimmy left their rifles with the shoes, and everyone with smaller weapons unstrapped their belts and left them with their own shoes.

'Come on,' Abby prompted, pushing Mariah and Amanda towards the back, Summer following them. Abby lifted Mariah onto the middle cot as Summer climbed into the one on the left. Once Mariah was settled in, Abby picked up Amanda and laid her down at the opposite end. She tucked the blanket around the girls, leaving only their heads peeking out.

'Good night, Abby,' Mariah whispered sleepily as Abby tucked her in.

'Night, Mo,' Abby replied with a smile. She turned to Summer and tucked her in as the boys started to settle into the sleeping bags. 'Take off your jacket,' she said, helping Summer out of the garment. When Summer had lain down, Abby tucked her in as well, then walked over to the third cot.

Anne watched the teenagers settle in from a position seated on the edge of her bed. Alexis sat on her lap, kicking her feet cheerfully. Tom pulled off his jacket and scarf before joining her. On the other side of the tent, Maggie was sitting in bed, laughing as Hal and Matt started wrestling again.

'Okay, no wrestling matches tonight,' Tom called. 'And no sock fights either.'

'Fine,' Hal groaned. He heaved Matt off of him and onto the floor with a grunt and a thump. Matt laughed and crawled back into the bed.

In the sleeping bags next to Tom and Anne's bed, Dallon and Harlem had shed their shirts before curling up underneath heaps of blankets. On the opposite side of the tent, Jimmy was helping Colm pull off his shirt while Ben unfolded the blankets Anne had left for them. Abby had finished tucking the girls in and was getting into her own cot. She had shed her thick shirt and shorts and just wore her tank top and leggings.

'Bundle up, everybody,' Anne advised. 'It's going to be a cold night.'


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys! I've been updating a lot lately, mostly because this is finished and I'm pretty happy with my progress on the next part...**

**To my wonderful new reviewers!**

**melsol: aw, thank you! This chapter is a little longer than some of the others, so I hope you like it!**

**Lea97: Thank you as well! I'm glad you like it (: Deni joins the group in a few more chapters... Close to the end, actually ^^; I hope you'll keep reading until then!**

* * *

The next morning, Anne woke up as Tom attempted to quietly slip out of bed. Before she could speak, he raised a finger to his lips. She nodded and half-sat up, looking around the tent. Across from her bed, Hal and Maggie were snuggled together. Matt had rolled off at some point and lay on the floor half-covered by a blanket with his legs still on the bed. Jimmy was sprawled on his back with Colm on his chest and several blankets over the two of them, making just their heads visible. Ben was completely covered by a mound of blankets, only recognizable as a teenaged boy by the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of his breathing. Dallon was asleep on his stomach, his arms wrapped around a bunched up blanket and his face buried in the blanket, covered by several others. Harlem had kicked off all blankets and lay with his feet over Dallon's back. Mariah and Amanda were curled into little balls on their cot, only their heads visible from under the blankets. Summer had pulled her blanket over her head and was completely invisible. Finally, Abby lay peacefully on her stomach, one arm hanging off of the cot, her blankets pulled off of her feet and up over one shoulder; her hair hung off of the edge of the cot, and her face rested on her other arm. Anne looked down at Alexis, sleeping soundly beside her, and laid back down as Tom pulled on his boots.

'It's so early,' she whispered, noting the lack of light in the tent.

'The sun's just starting to rise,' Tom replied. 'I have early patrol.'

'I didn't think you did today,' Anne said, running a hand over Lexie's hair.

'Technically, Ben does, but I don't want to wake him up,' Tom said. 'He hasn't slept this much in years.'

'I know,' Anne smiled. 'Be careful.'

'Always am,' Tom smiled down at her before leaving the tent.

At first, Anne attempted to fall back asleep, but as the sun rose, she found herself unable to drift off, so she settled for watching the peaceful scene in the tent like she had the one in the bus the morning previous. She sat up in the bed and wrote in her journal as, one by one, the other occupants began to wake up.

Hal was the first to wake up after Tom left. Anne saw him slowly and carefully disentangle himself from Maggie and slip out of bed only to trip over Jimmy's foot and nearly fall on Matt. 'Ugh,' he complained, picking Matt up and heaving him onto the bed, earning a soft chuckle from Anne. 'Is everyone else really still asleep?'

'Tom left on patrol,' Anne replied.

'I'm awake, thank you,' Jimmy grumbled.

'Yeah, you're welcome,' Hal replied, searching for his shirt. Once he had found one, he grabbed his boots, jacket, and guns and left to don them outside.

Jimmy groaned, lifting his head to look at Colm and dropping it back onto the floor with a thump. 'Great,' he grumbled.

'Are you sore?' Anne asked, peering at the two.

'Kind of,' Jimmy groaned, squirming slightly. 'It kind of hurts to lay on my spikes, but other than that not really. Anyways, I'd rather deal with that than tracking Colm down around camp.'

'What do you mean?' Anne asked.

'He sleepwalks,' Jimmy sighed. 'We found that out the hard way after we packed up. He kept climbing things or getting lost in his sleep.'

'Do you want help getting him off?' Anne laughed. 'If you want to get up, that is.'

'Nah,' Jimmy sighed. 'I got him,' he added. He pushed Colm off with one hand, catching him with the other arm. 'See?' he grinned triumphantly, laying Colm on the floor and climbing to his feet. He grabbed his things from where they had ended up the night before and went outside to gear up, like Hal.

Anne sat and watched the children for another few minutes before Dallon woke up with a start, then smacked Harlem to wake him up. Wordlessly, the two redressed before grabbing their shoes on the way outside. Surprisingly, the next to wake was Summer. She pulled on her jacket, then quietly woke up Mariah and Amanda, waiting for them to don their jackets before the trio left together, waving to Anne on their way out.

Maggie woke up next, sitting bolt upright and shivering. 'Brr,' she muttered, rubbing her arms. She looked down at Matt, sprawled beside her and frowned. 'I could have sworn I went to sleep with a different brother last night.'

Anne laughed. 'Hal woke up about ten minutes ago. Matt fell off sometime last night and Hal tripped on him, so he put him back on the bed.'

'Uh-huh,' Maggie said. 'Should I wake him up?'

'He'll have to get up sooner or later,' Anne shrugged.

With a malicious smile, Maggie poked Matt in the side with one finger and tickled him slightly. When that merely elicited a grunt and shift in position, she pounced with both hands and started tickling the young boy. Matt shrieked and began flailing around, sending blankets flying as he laughed and kicked. His shriek woke Colm and Alexis, who quickly assessed the situation and raced to join in. Their squeals and laughter soon joined Matt and Maggie's, raising the volume level in the tent by several notches.

Anne saw the mound of blankets that was Ben shift, and two bare feet poked out of the bottom. She saw an arm appear from the other side, and then motion stopped. As she watched, she saw a hand reach out and tug on the end of Abby's hair where it hung nearly to the floor. Without opening her eyes, Abby smacked him on the wrist.

'Next time you do that, I break your nose,' Abby grumbled. 'Okay?'

'Fine,' Ben sighed. He threw off his blankets and sat up, stretching languidly. He yawned and looked around. 'Where is everyone?'

'Already awake,' Anne replied with a smile.

'Crap!' Ben cried, jumping to his feet and frantically searching for his things. 'I need to go! I have patrol this morning!'

'Tom went,' Anne replied. 'He didn't want to wake you up. You've been sleeping better than normal the past few nights.'

'I know,' Ben agreed. 'I haven't had any nightmares.'

'It's the connection,' Abby said, propping herself up on her elbows and looking up at Ben. 'When you connect with someone, it does a lot of things. We found out that after we connected and packed up, we stopped having nightmares about being with the skitters. We think it's because we don't feel alone anymore.' She shrugged. 'I don't know what does it, I'm just glad it does. But it doesn't work if you're too far from the person or people you connected with.'

'Weird,' Ben said, finding his socks and shirt under Mariah and Amanda's cot.

'Is there anything we got from them that isn't weird?' Abby laughed, sitting up. She knelt on her cot and leaned over to grab her overshirt, shorts, and socks from under her cot.

Ben paused at the comment. 'Good point,' he agreed. He got dressed, dodging the tickle fight on his way outside.

'Good morning, by the way, Anne,' Abby smiled as she headed out, now fully dressed.

'Good morning,' Anne replied with a smile.

'Morning,' Jimmy yawned, looking up at Ben as he joined them around the fire circle. Hal had rekindled the flame from the night before, and was now cooking oatmeal over the small flame.

'Oatmeal?' Ben sighed, sitting down next to Jimmy.

'You betcha,' Hal laughed. 'What else?'

'True,' Ben nodded.

Abby hopped out of the tent and padded over to the fire, barefoot. She plopped down next to Jimmy and started pulling on her socks. She shivered, 'It's freezing!'

'Sun just rose,' Hal replied. 'It'll take a little while to warm up yet.'

Abby sighed and pulled her jacket on over her heavy shirt before shoving her feet into her brown boots.

'What is with you and those boots?' Hal asked. 'They're not very practical.'

'Don't I know it,' Abby grumbled. 'They were what I was wearing when I was taken, and I haven't been able to find anything else that fits.'

'How do you run in those?' Ben chimed in, peering at her around Jimmy.

'With difficulty,' Abby rolled her eyes. 'There are holes in the bottom, and the heels are all messed up. On the bright side, they don't give me blisters.'

'That is a plus,' Hal laughed, stirring the oatmeal. 'Done. Ben, can you grab those cups?'

'Yeah,' Ben stood up and grabbed several tin cups that were sitting, along with a canteen of water and the bag of oatmeal, across the fire from Hal and took the cups over to his brother. 'Here.'

'Thanks,' Hal said. He took one cup and spooned oatmeal into it, then passed it to Abby and repeated the motions.

'Where is everyone?' Abby asked, looking around as she passed the first cup to Jimmy.

'Dallon and Harlem went on patrol,' Hal replied. 'They're keeping an eye on the skitter camp. Dad's on patrol for Weaver. I don't know where those girls went, though.'

Abby sighed. 'They're always wandering off. They know enough not to leave the camp though, so they should be fine.'

'Morning!' Maggie called, exiting the tent and herding Alexis, Matt, and Colm in front of her. 'Is breakfast ready?'

'You bet,' Hal grinned. 'Grab some of those cups.'

Maggie picked up four of the tin cups, handing one each to the children. 'Go on, Hal will give you some oatmeal.'

The three filed over to Hal as Ben stepped around him to sit down next to Abby. Hal filled up each of their cups and they sat down around the circle. 'Anne, do you want some oatmeal?' Hal called towards the tent.

Anne didn't reply, but a few moments later she appeared in the doorway of the tent and made her way to the campfire. 'Hm, it was warmer inside,' she laughed. She accepted a cup-full of oatmeal from Hal and sat down between him and Ben. 'Thank you.'

'Yep,' Hal nodded, spooning out some oatmeal for himself and sitting down.

'It's pretty chilly,' Maggie observed, breaking the breakfast silence. 'But I guess this is just the start of winter, huh?'

'It's going to get a whole lot colder,' Anne nodded. 'I hope we can find somewhere sheltered to hole up.'

'I think Dad and Weaver are still planning to head for Charleston,' Hal said. 'If we can make it there, we don't need to find somewhere up here.'

'True,' Maggie agreed. 'But we don't know if we'll make it there. Definitely need to find more fuel first.'

'Hey, you guys have been around here for a while, haven't you?' Ben asked, turning to Jimmy and Abby.

'Yeah,' Jimmy nodded. 'Why?'

'Have you seen anywhere that looked like it might not be completely ransacked for fuel?' Ben asked.

'Not sure,' Jimmy replied.

'Hey, what about that one town where we found all the food?' Abby suggested.

'Yeah, maybe,' Jimmy agreed. 'We found this one town that was mostly destroyed, but hadn't been completely cleaned out. There was a gas station. We could check it out, at least.'

'How far is it?' Hal asked.

'Probably around fifty miles south-ish,' Jimmy replied. 'It's been a while since we passed through there.'

'That's about two and a half hours driving,' Hal said. 'I'll talk to Weaver; see if he'll let us go check it out.'

'We can help get there if he clears it,' Jimmy said. 'Abby would be best; she has the best sense of direction.'

'I'll let Weaver know,' Hal nodded. 'Thanks.'

* * *

**Running tally of other fandom references: 3. So far. And there's one I'm not sure made it into the version I published... Anyways, if you catch a reference, let me know and I'll give you a shout-out! =D yay!**

**Okay, classes start again tomorrow, so I don't know how much I'll be updating... Once I upload the tenth chapter, I don't plan to update again until I've written at least ten for the sequel. Right now, I'm halfway through the fourth, so it shouldn't take me too long *is denying the amount of German and BritLit homework she has***

**KBYE! EWOK OUT!**


	10. Chapter 10

'Jimmy! Abby! Ben!' Hal called. He was standing in the doorway of the command tent; Jimmy, Abby, and Ben were waiting outside, near the smoldering central fire. It had started to drizzle, and the trio was shivering in the frigid air, small clouds of breath puffing around them. They turned and walked to the tent, stepping inside the canvas building, grateful for the reprieve from the rain.

'Hal told me that you two might have a lead on some fuel,' Weaver said, looking intently at Jimmy and Abby.

'Yes, sir,' Jimmy replied. 'We passed through a town that was basically untouched by scroungers a few weeks ago. There was a gas station; hopefully that was as untouched as the rest of the town.'

'It's the best lead we've got,' Hal piped up.

'I agree,' Weaver nodded. 'Do you remember the way there?'

'We were in the woods most of the time,' Jimmy shook his head. 'I definitely don't remember a thing.'

'Then how are we supposed to get there for this fuel?' Weaver's brow furrowed.

'I can get you there,' Abby replied confidently. 'I have a good sense of direction. It won't be hard.'

'Are you sure?' Weaver asked.

'Yes, sir,' Abby nodded.

'Okay,' Weaver agreed. 'Hal, you can have the pick-up. Take Ben and Abby. Jimmy, I'd like you to stay here.'

'Yes, sir,' Jimmy nodded.

'Let's go,' said Hal. 'We need to get a move on so we can get there and back before dark.'

'Dismissed,' Weaver added. Ben, Abby, and Hal filed out together, Jimmy following.

'See you when you get back,' Jimmy grinned. 'Be careful, and good luck.'

Abby rolled her eyes. 'I'm always careful.'

Jimmy raised one eyebrow and looked at her, before shaking his head and wandering off.

'Okay, we need our guns, extra ammo, and food,' Hal sighed. 'And make sure there's enough gas in the pick-up. I'll take care of gas; you guys grab the food and weapons. Meet back here in fifteen.'

'Be careful,' Anne said. She stood next to the pick-up as Hal and Ben heaved empty metal drums into the back of the pick-up. Several gas canisters were still sitting on the ground, and Abby stood next to Anne with three rifles slung over her on shoulder and a knapsack over the other.

'We will be,' Hal replied. Once all of the drums were loaded, Hal packed the gas cans around them while Ben roped the drums into place. Once all of the containers were loaded, Hal shut the gate and turned around to take his rifle from Abby. 'Ready?'

'Yeah,' she nodded, handing Ben's gun to him.

'Ready,' Ben added.

'Let's go,' Hal said. The three loaded into the truck cab; Hal behind the wheel, Abby in the middle, and Ben on the passenger side. With a final wave to Maggie, standing near the med-bus with Alexis, Colm, Mariah, and Amanda, Hal started the truck, shifted it into gear, and drove towards the main road.

'Which way?' Hal asked Abby when they reached the turn onto the main road.

'Left,' Abby said after a pause. 'We're going back the way my pack and I were traveling before we met you.'

'Okay,' Hal nodded. He turned onto the road and the truck started chugging its way down the asphalt. 'You're sure about this?'

'Yeah,' Abby nodded. 'I'm sure.'

Hal pulled up to a crossroads and stopped. 'Which way?' he asked.

Abby swallowed. 'I'm not sure.'

'Great,' Hal groaned, throwing up his hands.

'Let me out,' Abby said.

'What?' Ben asked.

'Let me out,' she repeated. Before Ben could move, she sighed, crawled over him, opened the door, and tumbled out onto the road. Hal killed the engine and he and Ben sat watching her. Abby poked around in the woods on the right side of the road for several seconds before disappearing into them.

'Great,' Hal groaned. He opened his door and started to get out to follow her, but she reappeared.

'Right!' Abby called. She jogged around the front of the truck to the passenger side. Ben scooted into the middle so that she could climb in, and she shut the door. 'Right,' she repeated. 'I recognized some things in the woods. We came that way.'

'Are we following your path or taking the most direct route?' Hal asked, restarting the truck and turning right.

'Both,' Abby shrugged. 'Considering that the path we took is the most direct route since we don't know any other. Just be glad that we don't have to go through the woods.'

'I guess that's a good thing,' Hal sighed.

'Now which way?' Hal groaned. They had been driving for almost three hours, but had still not reached the town Abby and Jimmy had mentioned.

'Right!' Abby exclaimed excitedly. 'I know where we are! We're close!'

'Finally!' Hal grumbled. He turned right, and a few minutes later a demolished town appeared ahead of them.

'There,' Abby grinned. 'We made it.'

'Nice,' Hal nodded, impressed. 'Let's check out that gas station.' He pulled into the station, which was near the center of town and shut off the pick-up. He grabbed a gas can and headed for the pumps. 'Let's hurry up and get this done. Come on.'

Abby and Ben hopped out of the truck and joined Hal. It didn't take the trio long to fill up all of the containers with gas. Once they were done, Ben and Abby lifted the drums onto the truck bed, then packed the other containers in as well. Hal tied the ropes and shut the gate and glanced at his brother and Abby with a grin. 'Great. This is great. It'll get us pretty far. Let's get back.'

'Wait,' Ben froze, staring towards the opposite side of town.

'You hear that?' Abby asked, looking at Hal.

'Hear what?' Hal asked.

'Stay here,' Ben said. 'Abby and I will check it out. If we're not back in twenty minutes, leave.'

'What's going on?' Hal asked as Ben and Abby set off for the far side of the town.

'Someone else is here.'

* * *

**Sorry, sorry, I know it's really short... As in, barely over 1000 words... but the past few chapters have been over 2000, and the next one is over 2000 as well, so... :P Anyways, my goal for the next part of the fic (which I am almost on the seventh chapter in writing) is to have chapters at a minimum of 2000 words, while the minimum goal or this one was 1500...**

**ANYWAYS**

**Thank you to all reviewers! Reviews make my day, so please review! Also, the story has had 175 visitors, which is super exciting! I'll publish the next chapter when it reaches 250 views or when I get the tenth chapter for part 2 written, whichever comes first. So, hopefully, look for another chapter by the weekend!**


	11. Chapter 11

'What is it?' Jonathan whispered. He was pressed against the wall of a collapsed house. Next to him, Korinne was peering around the edge of the wall.

'Couple of kids,' she replied. 'Some teenaged boy and a girl who kind of looks like my sister from here.' She sat back and sighed. 'They don't look like they have anything.'

'We should check it out,' Jonathan shrugged. 'They could have something useful. Do they have guns?'

'We're not taking their guns,' Korinne replied sternly. 'They're just kids. They need to be able to defend themselves.'

'Fine,' Jonathan sighed. 'They probably haven't heard us. We'll just let them pass. What are they doing now?'

Korinne leaned around the wall again. 'The boy's gone!' she whispered, alarmed. 'The girl's still there, but she's not looking over here.'

'Let's get out of here,' Jonathan whispered.

'Not so fast,' a voice said. 'Hands where I can see them.'

'Wait,' Jonathan said. He whipped his head around and gaped. 'Benji?'

'Jonny?' Ben replied, shocked.

'You know him, baby?' Korinne said, looking between the two.

'This is my younger brother, Benji,' Jonathan stammered. 'W-what are you doing here?'

'Surviving,' Ben replied, lowering his gun. 'Abby, come on. It's okay.'

'Abby?' Korinne whispered. A crunch on gravel alerted them to Abby's arrival. Korinne turned slowly. 'Abby!'

'Korie?' Abby's jaw dropped. 'What the hell? How are you even here?'

'No time,' Ben said suddenly. 'Abby, do you hear that?'

'Yeah,' she nodded. 'Mechs. That means skitters. We gotta go.'

'Take us with you!' Korinne pleaded.

'Please,' Jonathan added. 'We've been here alone for almost a year. Take us with you.'

Ben paused. 'Do you have a vehicle?'

'Yeah, a dirtbike,' Jonathan replied. 'Why?'

'Get it, and meet us at the gas station,' Ben replied. 'And hurry!'

'I was getting worried!' Hal called, smirking at Ben and Abby as they jogged into the gas station parking lot. 'What took you so long?'

'We're bringing some people back with us,' Ben replied.

'What?' Hal asked. 'Are you sure that's a good idea?'

'We can't just leave them here,' Ben shrugged. 'There's mechs incoming, probably skitters too.'

'Great,' Hal sighed. 'Just what I was hoping for. Where are these people? And how are we going to take them with us, anyways?'

They heard the roar of a dirtbike as Jonathan and Korinne tore into the station, braking next to the truck and shutting off the bike.

'Hal?' Jonathan gaped. 'Is that you?'

'Jon?' Hal replied. 'I don't believe it.'

'Believe it,' Ben interrupted. 'Jonathan, you and your girlfriend can ride with Hal. Abby and I will take the bike back.'

'It's my bike,' Jon replied. 'I'm not letting it out of my sight.'

'This isn't up for negotiation,' Ben shot back. 'We need to get moving. Get in the truck or we'll leave you here for the aliens.'

'Come on, Jonny,' Korinne said, tugging him towards the truck. 'Let's go.'

'Fine,' Jon grumbled. He climbed into the truck after Korinne.

'You two sure about this?' Hal asked.

'Yeah,' Ben replied. 'I've got the navigator. You can get back to camp on your own?'

'No problem,' Hal replied. 'You guys be careful.'

'Don't worry,' Ben grinned. 'We'll be fine. See you at camp.'

'Yep,' Hal nodded. He ducked back into the truck and started it.

'Wait, you can't just leave them here!' Korinne cried as Hal pulled away, leaving Ben and Abby standing next to the dirtbike in the gas station parking lot.

'They'll be fine,' Hal grunted as he turned the wheel hard, scraping the truck around a sharp turn out of the lot.

'Are you kidding!?' Jon sputtered. 'That's your sixteen-year-old brother back there!'

'Yeah, my sixteen-year-old brother who's stronger, faster, smarter, more capable, and generally better than me at everything, especially fighting skitters,' Hal smirked.  
'He'll be fine. And Abby's just like him. The two of them will make a good team if they have to fight.'

'What do you mean?' Korinne asked. 'I know my sister. She's slow and wimpy. She may be smart, but the thing she's best at is writing. No way can she fight aliens for crap.'

'That's the old Abby,' Hal replied. 'Just like the old Ben. They're different people now. I'll explain later.'

'Why not explain now?' Jon demanded.

'Fine,' Hal replied. 'Have you seen the kids with the parasites on their backs?'

'Yeah,' Korinne replied. 'Are you saying that Abby and Ben were like those kids?'

'Yep,' Hal nodded. 'Their harnesses were cut off, but they still have parts of them buried in their spinal cords. The spikes give them a lot of amazing abilities. They're fast, strong, agile, and have incredible stamina and senses. They won't fall prey to the skitters easily.'

'I'll take your word for it,' Korinne grumbled.

'I just can't get over the fact that you two are alive,' Jon marveled. 'What about Mom? Dad? Little Matty?'

'Dad's fine and Matt's not so little,' Hal replied. 'You'll see them when we get to camp. Mom died a few months after the invasion.'

Jon shook his head. 'I'm sorry. I wish I could have been with you guys.'

'We thought you were dead.'

'I thought the same about you all,' Jon replied. 'Korie and I were trying to get to Boston, see if we could find out anything. We were in Harrisburg and found her parents' graves, so we started up here.'

'I assumed Abby and Nate, our brother, were dead,' Korinne whispered. 'Or that they had those things on their backs.'

'Abby did,' Hal replied. 'I don't know about your brother.'

'I wish I could find out something,' Korinne's eyes filled with tears. 'I just want to know.'

'The not-knowing is the worst,' Hal murmured.

'It is,' Jon nodded.

'What about you two?' Hal changed the subject.

'We're engaged,' Jon replied. 'We were travelling to meet each other's families, try to patch up relationships, before the invasion. When it happened, we just kept going, trying to get closure. We stopped here because there was food, and never really got around to leaving. What have you been up to?'

'We stayed in Boston for a while,' Hal replied. 'Grouped up with other refugees. We spent a few weeks at a school in Acton after leaving Boston, but eventually had to move out. We got stalled trying to get across a river, and decided to go to Charleston when we heard that refugees were congregating there to form a resistance. We spent almost a year there; Dad got remarried and they had a kid. We left to attack the Espheni in Boston. We were there a few weeks ago, but got kicked out by the Volm when they wanted to send us to Brazil.'

'Espheni?' Korinne repeated. 'Volm? Who are they?'

'The Espheni are the ones who control the skitters,' Hal explained. 'The Volm allied with us to fight them, and then decided they didn't want us around and tried to ship all human survivors off to Brazil to keep us out of their way.'

'Some allies,' Korinne scoffed.

'And did you say Dad got remarried?' Jon asked. 'And had a kid?'

'Oh, yeah, I should warn you about Lexie…' Hal sighed. 'Basically, Dad married Anne, the combat surgeon for the 2nd Mass—that was the group we left Boston with and are basically with now—and they had a daughter named Alexis about three months ago. _But_ Lexie and Anne were captured by the Espheni. While they were there, the Espheni did something to Lexie. She looks like she's six years old, not three months. Also, she's a half-human, half-alien hybrid. We don't know why or how. She's weird. You'll get used to her. If you actually stick around this time.'

Jon groaned and rested his head on the back of the seat. 'Hal, please. Don't bring that up. I'm sorry for leaving you guys. But Mom and Dad and I just didn't see eye to eye. Things would have exploded and you guys probably would have gotten hurt worse than you did by me leaving.'

'I remember the fights,' Hal replied grimly. 'We all do. Even Matt.'

'Hal—' Jon started

'It's fine,' Hal replied. 'We'll talk about this later. Let's just get back for now.'

'Tom, look!' Anne called. The beat-up red pick-up pulled into the clearing, skidding to a halt in the new mud near the command tent. Hal leapt out from behind the wheel and sprinted inside the tent.

'That's not Ben and Abby,' Jimmy said. He stood to Anne's left in the Mason tent's doorway, and Tom stood on her right.

'What?' Anne demanded, alarmed.

'Who is it?' Tom asked.

'Some guy and girl,' Jimmy replied. 'I don't think I know them. Hard to tell with this rain.'

'I'm going to go see what's going on,' Tom said to Anne. He jogged over to the tent as the door of the truck opened and the two occupants tumbled out. 'Come on in,' he called, squinting at them through the downpour. 'Colonel Weaver will want to talk to you.'

'Dad?' Jon called.

Tom paused. 'Jonny?' he called back.

'Come on inside, Tom,' Weaver yelled. 'Bring those two from the truck.'

Tom held the flap open for Jonathan and Korinne. 'Hal, where are Ben and Abby?'

'I don't know,' Hal replied. 'I was hoping to find them back here. There were skitters and mechs closing in on us. They took a different route to lead them away from the camp.'

'In this weather?' Tom frowned up at one of the tent's plastic skylights. 'They might not make it until morning.'

'There's nothing we can do until morning,' Weaver scowled. 'I hate it as much as you do, Tom, but we can't risk going out. We just have to trust that those two are smart enough to handle themselves for the night. As for you two,' Weaver turned on Jon and Korinne. 'Who the hell are you?'

'Jonathan Mason, sir,' Jon replied. 'And this is my fiancée, Korinne McAllister.'

'Mason?' Weaver raised an eyebrow, glancing between Tom, Hal, and Jon. 'Related to you, Tom?'

'My oldest,' Tom replied. 'He moved out four years before the invasion. We thought he was dead even before the skitters.'

'Huh,' Weaver nodded thoughtfully. 'Is there room for them with you? If there's not, I think they could stay with Jeanne and Lourdes.'

'Nah, we'll make it work,' Tom replied, resting one hand on Jon's shoulder. 'But first thing tomorrow, I'm going out to look for Ben and Abby.'

'Deal,' Weaver nodded. 'Take the berserkers with you, and anyone else you want.'

Tom nodded. 'Thanks, Dan.'

'Go on home,' Weaver sighed. 'Get some sleep. I know you'll be up bright and early tomorrow. Dismissed.'

Tom nodded and led his sons and Korinne out of the command tent. 'Hal, did you guys find fuel?'

'Yeah, we hit the jackpot,' Hal grinned. 'Filled up everything, and there's plenty more where it came from. It's on our way to Charleston, too. We could swing by and fill up everything we can spare.'

'Did you tell Weaver?' Tom asked. The four trudged through the rain and mud towards the Masons' tent, passing the truck on their way.

'First thing,' Hal replied. 'He's thrilled. Hopefully the skitters and mechs didn't destroy it.'

'Well, I think you would've noticed the explosion if they had blown up the gas station,' Tom grinned.

'True,' Hal laughed in reply. As they approached the tent, the flap moved aside to reveal Maggie and Anne standing there. The four climbed into the tent.

'Hey,' Maggie grinned, embracing Hal. 'You're wet.'

'Yeah, a little,' Hal laughed. 'I don't know if you noticed, but it's kind of raining out there.'

'No, I didn't notice,' Maggie teased.

'Jonny!?' Matt exclaimed. He was sitting on Tom and Anne's bed with Lexie and Colm. The small girls were sitting on their cots in the back, and the three older boys were sitting in a circle on Dallon and Harlem's side of the tent.

'Hey, Matty,' Jon grinned down at the boy. 'How are you?'

'What are you doing here?' Matt asked, looking troubled.

'I survived the alien apocalypse,' Jon smiled.

Matt smiled slightly, then turned back to Lexie and Colm.

'Uh, Jon, this is Anne,' Tom said. 'My wife.'

'Nice to meet you,' Jon said slowly, shaking Anne's hand.

'It's great to meet you too,' Anne smiled. 'I'm sorry about your mother.'

'Thanks,' Jon nodded. 'Oh, right. This is my fiancée, Korinne.'

'Hi,' Korinne smiled, shaking Anne's hand. 'It's nice to meet you.'

'This is Maggie,' Hal said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

'Right, and this is Lexie,' Tom added, gesturing to Alexis. 'That's Colm, Jimmy, Harlem, Dallon, Summer, Mariah, and Amanda. They're Abby's pack.'

'Pack?' Korinne repeated.

'Family,' Dallon said, glowering at the girl.

'Are you her sister?' Jimmy asked. 'She told us about you.'

'The good stuff, I hope,' Korinne forced a smile.

'Sure,' Jimmy replied.

'Where's Abby?' Colm asked, reaching over and tugging on Tom's jacket.

'Abby and Ben aren't back yet,' Tom replied. 'They're making sure skitters and mechs don't find us.'

'Where are they?' Colm whimpered. 'Where's Abby?'

'If they're not back by morning, I promise you that I will go and find them,' Tom said, crouching down to look Colm in the eye.

'We'll go with you,' Jimmy said. 'You could use some spike-backs.'

'Thank you,' Tom nodded.

'Me too!' cried Matt.

'Me and Hal, too,' Maggie added. 'We'll find them.'

* * *

**Well! So I did forget about this... Not really, I was just procrastinating and being a bad college student by not doing anything I should do (including updating my fanfiction regularly...). You guys should all love my roommate, BrokenSky49, who is forcing me to update this INSTEAD OF FRICKING STUDYING FOR GERMAN WHICH I HAVE A MIDTERM IN TOMORROW MORNING! CURSES UPON YOU AND PUDGY, DUDE!**

**Anyway, responding to reviews:**

**Derekv: Thank you! I'm glad you like it (:**

**melsol: I'm glad you appreciate the cliffhangers! Here's another one for you *evil laugh* (sorry...)**

**Lea97: Thank you!**

**BrokenSky49: ...shut up... troll...**


	12. Chapter 12

Jon woke the next morning to shouts and the sounds of vehicles pulling into the clearing. 'Mom! Mom!' he heard Matt shouting. 'Mom!' the boy burst into the tent. 'Mom, come quick! We found Ben and Abby!'

Anne scrambled out of bed, stopping only to put on her shoes and grab her jacket before following Matt outside. Jon leapt up and ran to the entryway, peering out. The downpour of the night before had once again tapered to a drizzle; the sky was full of steel grey clouds, but the clearing was lit by sunlight from behind them. Jon saw his father moving towards the bus next to the tent, Abby in his arms, followed by a huge man in a yellow plaid jacket bearing Ben.

'Med-bus!' Anne bellowed. She sprinted towards the bus, turning around halfway there to shout at Matt: 'Get Lourdes!'

Tom and the other man disappeared into the bus for a few minutes before reappearing. Matt returned leading a young Hispanic girl. She boarded the bus, and he attempted to follow, only to be stopped by Tom. Jon grabbed his shoes and jogged over to where Tom and Matt were waiting outside the bus, the other man having returned to the vehicles.

'Dad!' Jon called as he approached. 'What's going on? Are they okay?'

'I don't know,' Tom replied grimly. 'They have some form of hypothermia, but other than that they looked fine.'

Korrine arrived next to them, breathless and concerned. 'Is Abby in there?'

'Yes,' Tom nodded. He stopped her when she tried to board the bus. 'Let Anne and Lourdes have their space. They'll do what they can for Abby and Ben.'

Lourdes appeared in the doorway. 'Anne says to go inside. She doesn't want to have to deal with anyone else getting sick. I'll come get you once we know more.'

Tom nodded and herded the trio back to the tent. They arrived to find everyone awake. Jimmy, Harlem, Dallon, Hal, and Maggie had returned, damp, and were sitting in various places around the tent.

'Is Abby going to be okay?' Colm whimpered. He was sitting on Tom and Anne's bed again, next to Lexie.

'Anne is going to do everything she can,' Tom replied.

'Abby and Ben will be fine,' Jimmy said. 'They're fighters. They'll pull through.'

'He's right,' Maggie agreed. 'They survived being harnessed. Abby survived a year or more with the rebel skitters. They're going to be fine.'

'I hope so,' Matt murmured, looking in the direction of the med-bus.

The atmosphere in the tent grew more and more tense as the hours passed. Harlem and Dallon left to go on patrol, followed by Jimmy almost an hour later. Jeanne arrived with soup for lunch, which they accepted gratefully. Tom and Jon alternated pacing for a while, before they both finally settled down to wait. Korinne entertained the younger girls by intricately braiding their hair. Maggie and Hal went on patrol just before Harlem and Dallon returned. Weaver stopped by and settled down next to Tom.

'How's it going?' he asked.

'We haven't heard anything,' Tom replied.

'They're in good hands,' Weaver said, looking around at the worried faces in the tent. 'Anne and Lourdes'll do their best.'

'Hey,' Lourdes's voice came from the tent door.

'Well?' Tom demanded, leaping to his feet.

'Late second-stage hypothermia,' Lourdes replied. 'We're doing what we can, but we just don't have the equipment for the treatment they really need.'

'What don't you have?' Tom asked. 'I thought all you had to do was warm them up.'

'For late stages of hypothermia, patients need active internal rewarming,' Lourdes replied. 'This is done by pumping heated dextrose and saline through them. This also helps with the dehydration. We simply don't have the equipment to do this. We're sticking with active external rewarming, because that's what we have the equipment and ability to do. That's basically just keeping them dry and warm, using blankets and warm clothes. Usually, we'd use hot water bottles and the heated IV fluids, or have them inhale warmed, humidified air, but, like I said, we don't have the equipment for that. Jeanne has been helping us by boiling water, then cooling it down enough to get them to try and drink it, but there really isn't much else we can do.'

'Are they going to be okay?' Korinne asked, gripping Jon's arm tightly.

'We don't know yet,' Lourdes admitted. 'They're definitely not out of the woods yet.'

'When will we know?' Jon asked.

'I'll let you know once we have a better idea of what's going on with them,' Lourdes replied before turning to Tom. 'Tom, I need to talk with you outside, please.'

Tom nodded and followed her out. She led him to the med-bus, but stopped outside and faced him. 'Frankly, Tom, we don't know much. We're trying to raise their core temperatures back up, but it's hard without the equipment. Also, there's a chance that some of their organs failed while they were freezing. We can't see anything, so we don't know. It doesn't look good.'

Tom rested his head in his hands. 'Can I go in?'

Lourdes nodded. 'But only you. Anne doesn't want anyone else, especially not the kids, in there.'

Tom nodded in agreement and boarded the bus. Resting in the two parallel cots were two cocoons of blankets. Tom moved further into the bus. At the ends of the beds, he saw the pale faces of the two teenagers. He moved to Ben's side and brushed his fingers against his white cheek.

'Hey,' Anne murmured, resting her hand on Tom's shoulder.

'Hey,' he replied.

'Lourdes, go see if Jeanne has some water for us,' Anne instructed. Wordlessly, Lourdes left, softly closing the bus door behind her.

'What do you think?' Tom asked, turning from Ben to Abby. 'Will they make it?'

'I can't say,' Anne replied grimly. 'Their core temperatures were borderline severe hypothermia. I don't know if any of their organs shut down.'

'Any frostbite?' Tom asked.

'No,' Anne shook her head. 'Fortunately.'

Tom nodded, turning back to Ben. 'Can I stay here?'

'Not right now,' Anne replied. 'Go back and try to sleep. Lourdes and I will have to sleep eventually, and you can stay with them then.'

'Okay,' Tom nodded. 'What should I tell the kids?'

'That we're doing what we can but we don't know anything for sure yet,' Anne shrugged. 'Be honest, but not too honest.'

'Okay,' Tom nodded. He turned and embraced Anne, kissing her on the lips. 'You can do it.'

'Thank you for your faith,' Anne smiled wryly. 'Go. I'll come for you in a few hours.'

Tom nodded again and left the bus. He walked slowly back to the tent, trudging through the mud.

'Dad!' Matt exclaimed as Tom entered the tent. Jimmy had returned from his patrol, and was holding Mariah and Amanda on his lap. 'What's the news?'

'They don't know anything yet,' Tom replied. 'They might not for a while. Anne and Lourdes are doing what they can.'

'Can we see them?' Dallon asked.

'Not right now,' Tom answered. 'Anne doesn't want anyone to disturb them.' He sat down on the bed and pulled off his boots and jacket. 'I'm going to get some sleep. Anne wants me to sit with them while she and Lourdes sleep tonight.'

Jimmy nodded. 'We'll keep it down.'

'Thanks,' Tom replied. 'Don't worry, guys. If anyone can save them, it's Anne and Lourdes.'

'Tom?' Anne said, gently shaking him awake.

Tom looked around blearily. 'What? What's going on?'

'I need you to sit with Ben and Abby for a few hours so Lourdes and I can sleep,' Anne whispered. She stood up and stepped back, avoiding Dallon, who was sprawled across the floor.

Tom slipped out of bed, careful not to crawl on Lexie or Colm, both of whom were curled up next to him. He pulled on his boots and jacket and followed Anne to the med-bus.

'There are blankets here, which you know,' she said. 'If they start shivering, tuck another blanket around them. 'If _anything_ happens, and I mean anything at all, come and get me right away. Especially if they wake up.'

Tom nodded. 'Blankets there. If anything happens, come get you.'

'Good,' Anne nodded and smiled. 'I'll come back when I wake up, probably around dawn. Try not to fall asleep.'

'Okay,' Tom nodded. He kissed Anne on the forehead and watched her leave, shutting the bus door firmly after her. He moved to the middle section of the bus, where a metal stool was set next to Abby's bed. He moved the stool closer to Ben's cot and settled down onto it, watching his son's pale face as the blankets rose and fell with Ben's slow breathing.

* * *

**Hey everyone! Thanks for reading! Please leave a review; they make my day :3**

**To those who reviewed the last chapter: thanks so much! I don't remember what was said, but you're all so lovely ^^**

**Also, I got a fish. Just felt like sharing that...**


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